


Thrice Over

by Null0



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Crossover, Found Families, Hurt Percy, M/M, Percy Jackson is Skull, Sally Jackson Dies, Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)-centric, and that’s the canon divergence, boom - Freeform, i think, just a little of harry potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26536438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Null0/pseuds/Null0
Summary: Percy Jackson is sick of everything. He's done. After going through two wars for the Gods, helping out others in the different pantheons, he gets betrayed by those closest to him.Soon he gets sucked in to his cousin's, Harry Potter, problems. Wiping his hands off of that mess, he tries to reinvent himself as Skull DeMort, the stuntman.Even getting pulled unwillingly into the Mafia, Percy tries to hide who he was. However, the Mafia is a place where you can't hide unless you're the best. And even the best have problems. The only question now is, how much chaos will Percy get into?
Relationships: (Mentioned) Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Arcobaleno & Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Percy Jackson & Arcobaleno (Katekyou Hitman Reborn)
Comments: 77
Kudos: 672
Collections: A Collection of Beloved Inserts, Identity Crisis





	1. Prologue

Percy Jackson was tired. He had saved the world several times, whether by the schemes of others or by his own accord. 

Skull DeMort? He was born in the middle of the night, meant as a joke to others, serious to Percy. _It was going to be the start of his brand new life._

He didn't want to continue like this. And, well, getting betrayed hurt. He had already gone through so much. 

* * *

Sally Jackson, the best mom in the world, or what he could remember of her, was killed by Gabe Ugliano, her husband. Three-year-old-Percy had the unfortunate timing to be there to witness it. 

Other than getting beat by Smelly-Gabe subsequently, Percy was sent to different schools after the police never found Sally Jackson's killer. In the same cycle, go to school, get something weird to happen, whether it be with water, the mysterious fire or just plain strange occurrences and get expelled. It was a cycle. Get beat up by Smelly-Gabe for being expelled and then go to a new school. 

Honestly, it wasn't his fault. He did try to learn. Percy was ready to get away. He knew to do that he had to be able to survive on his own. At anytime, you would find Percy with a book in his hands. He tried to figure it out, with dyslexia not helping at all. 

Finding out the reading in different languages helped encouraged him to learn, well, different languages. That became different cultures, and then just basically learning everything about the language and its nationality, history and the people. Well, there is the saying knowledge is power.

Being sent off to Camp Half-Blood was possibly the best thing that happened to him, or so he thought at the time. He then learned that good things come at a price. He never hit it off with Annabeth, she seemed like a girl too desperate to prove herself. 

It hurt when he was basically only claimed by his father, Poseidon the God of the Sea, to prevent a fight between his father and another god. But he completed his duty and got the lightning bolt to Zeus. After the betrayal by Luke, he learns not to _completely_ trust people. Percy made sure he never became like Luke, bitter about life and ready to do evil to strike back. 

After Chiron gets replaced, then comes back and Thalia is reverted back to her original form, Percy feels less pressure with the new big attraction. After having the quest to try to find the Goddess Artemis, ending with both Bianca di Angelo and Zoe Nightshade dead Percy learns _loss_. 

He really should have known that the labyrinth was sketchy. His intuition was whispering to him. He knew to trust it; it had saved him multiple times. 

He should have listened, it would have likely averted the whole incident. He felt terrible as he pulled a normal mortal girl, Rachel, into the dangerous Greek world. 

His anchor for the mortal world when he bathed in River Styx was the promise of true family and the freedom he would get after this was all over. Percy held out hope for what was to come after the chaos. 

The war was awful, there were half-bloods on the other side. It became the first time he killed. Killing monsters who are trying to kill you is one thing, killing a fellow half-blood, somebody who's angry about the gods, is another. He _was_ going to get over it, with the nightmare haunting him.

Getting his memory wiped with only the ocean and the feeling of freedom as the clue to the Greek world was not the best clue for him. In his time there, Percy became wilder due to the training Lupa, listening to his instincts and intuition more. He became more cool, calculative and ferocious. 

Leo, Frank, and Hazel were his friends, no, _family_. They understood him better than he understood himself. During the times of war, Percy was determined to finish this up. He had survived the first war, perhaps a bit scarred and broken, but he would make it out of this one and live the life of freedom with his family. 

_He_ had _to. It was the only thing keeping him going._

And the war.

He thought he felt pain before. What a laughable thought. When Leo sacrificed himself to scatter Gaia's essence he felt a heart-wrenching pain as he watched Leo disappear. 

When Hazel died and Frank died from trying to protect her dying body from being torn to shreds that's when he felt true anger, pain and loss from losing the ones he cared about. Channeling the emotion into his fighting he took out the rest of the monsters, killing even the enemy Gods and Goddesses.

Even with the war over, Percy was tired. He was sick of all the fighting he had gone through. In both wars he was a general fighting alongside his soldiers, watching them fall down, only some getting up. The rest of the seven weren't the same. They were bitter, sullen and irritable. 

They had begun to resent him. Percy could tell. When you become the general for two wars, go on quests, and have to lead a group of stressed half-bloods with a deadly dead-line, you begin to read people, learning what to say and what to do.

With Leo, Hazel and Frank gone, Percy became withdrawn. So, when Annabeth, Jason and Piper began spreading poisonous rumors he did nothing to stop them. 

He was like a robot, going on quests left and right. He met others from different pantheons and helped them, putting his life on the line every single time. He flitted on the line between life and death.

It was quite the ironic fall, from 'Hailed Savior' and 'Hero of Olympus' to 'Cowardly Liar'. The Gods did nothing to stop the rumors. He was even considered a hero from different pantheons, but none of them knew of the abuse at camp.

Soon, Percy was summoned by the Olympus Council, greeted with news told by Zeus that he was going to be banished until they needed his services. Percy shouldn't have taken his anger out on the monsters and Gods and Goddesses. 

The Council was afraid that Percy would be a threat to their power. Even his father had cold, hard, merciless eyes. Only Hestia help give Percy a way out. 

She told him about his mother's side, why his father was so attracted to Sally. His grandmother's bloodline was a _witch_ bloodline _._ Percy's grandfather's bloodline was a _hitman_ bloodline, one who used _Dying Will Flames._ The magic that witches and wizards had, came from are either blessings or just being borne from Hecate, so a Goddess given gift. The Dying Will Flames were the mortals figuring out the use of their desperation, being able to use the hidden power inside.

That totally explained all the times that he got expelled for unusual incidents. His unique bloodline was also unconsciously attracting others. The Gods and Goddesses who noticed; most of them found it threatening.

After giving Percy some information, Hestia told Percy of his cousin, Harry Potter. Before leaving, Hestia gave Percy a full set of clothes that would transform into what look he needed, a hat included, and an ear piercing that was blessed with the ability to change his appearance. Of course, none of the items would break or get dirty. 

Percy stumbles upon Harry as the _boy-who-lived_ is about to leave Hogwarts due to being expelled. They go over to the Black Lake to talk. A surprise attack by Voldemort, stops them from having a deeper talk. The killing curse hits Percy directly and he got blasted into the lake. 

This somehow saved him, however it knocked Percy unconscious-the only sign of the spell is a scar on his bicep. Likely due to him being in the water, Percy and Harry later theorized as the ocean was technically a sentient being and it did love Percy, like Lily and baby Harry, it canceled out the effects of the Killing spell.

Waking up, Percy saw Harry knocked unconscious with a suspicious amount of blood on the floor. Seeing no wounds on Harry, he could only assume it came from Voldemort. His intuition rang as he approached Harry. It told him to get out there quickly. Ignoring it—something he was definitely going to regret later—he stayed to help Harry. Before he could even get within touching distance of Harry, Hecate came. 

She went on a long and complicated speech about the fact he also survived the killing curse so he was _technically_ a _boy-who-lived. The scar-a lightning shaped scar on his bicep._ Not completely, but enough to be able to help Harry out. _Why? Because Harry was her Champion._

Going on with a long information dump she concluded it with the fact that Percy was going to _with or without_ his approval be spiritually shackled to Harry and come out in times of need. Of course, if Harry got any wounds or marks then Percy would be the one feeling them and getting them physically on his body. So, she was going to force Percy's soul out of his body and bind it to Harry's for however long it takes to reform the Wizarding World.

By then, Harry had also woken up and both were insistently protesting. But when have God and Goddesses ever listened to mortals. Ignoring the two in question, she ever-so _-kindly_ assured Percy that when the wounds showed up on his body, she would heal them. Hecate told Percy that he would be able to see his body, just only envision it. 

Ending the conversation, she promptly forced Percy's soul into Harry's body, grabbed Percy's soulless body and teleported out of the lakeside, one that was instantly filled with Percy's killing intent. Harry flinched at the sudden drop in temperature and the shivers that suddenly appeared, going down his spine. After setting some ground rules and testing things out, Harry getting whisked away to the Order of the Phoenix .

Things went downhill from there, building an army made of school children, Harry's god-father dying, warning Harry about the suspicious potions book, him ignoring the warning, again warning Harry off a relationship with Ginny but again ending in Harry ignoring the warning and breaking up with her later. 

Getting tortured was not fun, violation in ways Percy had never imagined. To keep his sanity, every time Percy underwent a torture session he'd force Harry unconscious and take his place. Didn't need Harry seeing it. It was fine for only Percy to experience it. Later the marks would disappear and reappear on his soulless body, Hecate made some type of spell or magic which would heal the injuries that appeared without her being present. 

Percy had never hated anything more. Most of the time Percy would warn Harry and it would end in Harry ignoring it. And then it ended in torture for Percy.

Only in the final battle did Harry step up. When Harry died, _Percy went with him_. Coming back wasn't fun. He got questioned by Death, otherwise known as Thanatos. At the end of his explanation, Death winked at Percy and told him that he was about to get a fun gift, then sent Percy back.

After reforming the Wizarding world to the very least was when the requirements were complete. When Harry was twenty-three, was when Percy finally got his seventeen-year-old body back. He had stayed stuck for seven years, from Harry's sixteen year-old-body to Harry's twenty-three-year-old-body. Hecate had given Percy wandless magic as a prize for helping Harry.

During this time they found out that the title, _Master of Death,_ was scarily accurate. No matter who was in control of the body they couldn't die. 

Even back in his original body, Percy couldn't die. He had stayed for five years in the Wizarding world after announcing his involvement. 

Percy didn't age. Unlike Harry, which suggested that Percy got a bigger dose of immortality. 

Percy was tired. He was going to reinvent himself. Become a whole different person that no one was going to suspect and live a _free_ life and find people who he at the _very_ least could trust. 

_It was his dream._ It may not come true after all this time, _but he was going to try._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *jazz hands*
> 
> Filler!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Percy squashed the rising feeling of guilt that appeared. Perhaps he was running. But, he didn't want to be here anymore. This was the place that had chained him down, forcing him to change to something else, become someone who he didn't like. 

Tossing his duffle bag on to his beloved motorcycle, he surveyed his things. As he was making sure he wasn't missing anything, he felt the vibrations of someone walking- no, sneaking-up behind him. As the person grabbed his shoulder, relying on instinct, Percy immediately judo flipped the person and slammed them to the ground.

He stopped from taking his knife out as he saw who it was. Groaning on the floor was Harry. Ignoring his guilt he took a second to re-center himself.

Now stone-faced, he held out a hand to help Harry up. Harry gratefully took it and pulled himself up.

Harry brushed off the attack and started complaining, "Come on, are you serious?! You're leaving? Couldn't you tell me? Don't you trust me after all this time?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving. I can't stand this, you know this feeling. Although you are my cousin, there isn't much holding me back from leaving. The Wizarding world is your responsibility, not mine. And I didn't tell you because of this. Don't overreact." Percy ignored the last question, it was a waste of words to answer. 

Harry turned serious, "You have serious sway in the Wizarding world. It would really help if you stayed. Plus, you're my only good advisor. Malfoy is good but can't really be trusted, Neville is busy with other stuff and is uncomfortable with politics and Nico only appears once in a while, and it's to see you. The rest are a bunch of old guys with outdated ideals."

Percy sighed and shook his head, "You can't rely on me. You have to learn to stand on your own. What have I always told you?"

Harry monotonously repeated, "Remember the past, plan for the future, but focus on the present."

"So you _do_ know."

"Yeah. You've been repeating that since forever. I don't need the advice, I need _you._ Helping me."

"No you don't, you can do this. I've been in your head. I've taught you how to do this, you can go out there and _own it._ " 

"Fine. But if you're going out into the world, then you need to at least contact me at least once a year. Plus, give me your number. If you're going out into the world, then you do have a phone, right? If something happens then I need to be able to find you. You know where I am, if you go then I need something to find you." Harry chattered on, his worry getting the best of him as he added more random and unnecessary things to the list.

Sighing, Percy wordlessly walked outside to grab two small rocks. Dusting the dirt off, he enchanted one to track him and the other to find and be able to contact and find him. Walking back inside the garage, he handed the contacting rock over. 

Harry shot a questioning look over, as Percy just gestured for him to try it. Harry tapped the rock once, and a map of the world showed up. Zooming in, Harry found the location stickers of where Percy was. Tapping the rock twice, the image was gone. 

With an incredulous tone, Harry said, "Well that's great and all, but how do I talk with you?"

Percy just picked his rock up and spoke into it, "Like this, you non-believer. Use your head."

Harry watched as his rock glowed and out came Percy's words. "Fine, you win." Harry sighed.

He fake glowered at Percy, "Now change your looks, you bloody chameleon!"

Percy sighed but obligingly tapped on his ear piercing. His original face, a tanned, sea-green eyed face with scars and pitch black hair framing it, transformed into a white, caked with makeup, purple-eyed and purple-haired face. At the same time, his faded orange shirt, seemingly too old to read what was on there, along with some ripped jeans transformed into a one piece purple motorcycle suit. 

Harry shook his head exasperated. "Man, I'll never get used to that. Anyways, be careful, I just got the news that the half-bloods are on the hunt for you. Something about a prophecy, I guess. It was why I was out here looking for you. They may not recognize you like _that,_ but they do have other ways to track you", His eyes glinting with amusement, Harry spoke his last words, "Bye _Skull DeMort._ "

Percy silently nodded his head. He transformed the heavy-duty goggles he was wearing into a motorcycle helmet; transforming courtesy of the clothing and items being from Hestia.

With the bad news as a parting gift, he rolled the motorcycle out of the open garage and left. Only a trail of dust as a sign Percy was there. Harry watched with mournful eyes as the person faded to a speck. 

Percy had already gone through so much already. Even if Percy had never told Harry to the limit he was pushed to, Harry was at the very least perceptive of Percy surviving the torture Harry should have gone through, how he knew to take a hit. How Percy knew how to read to people, when to push and when to let things go. Percy who knew more about war and how to fight in the most efficient way. How Percy didn't trust anybody. 

Harry resented his fiery teenage self that had caused Percy to age mentally. How his teenage self had no blemishes from the scars of impulse he should have. How Percy had to learn to deal with the politics in his place. How _he_ had caused Percy to resent him, Harry who represented the cage.

* * *

Far away, the subject of Harry's thoughts was enjoying the feeling of wind rushing and the high speeds. Percy—now Skull—had fallen in love with the feeling almost immediately on his first ride on a motorcycle. 

He had taken one ride on the motorcycle and was hooked. The feeling was almost like water. The cool feeling rushing over his skin and he left his thoughts behind as he drove, going where the wind was drifted.

He had spent time researching, buying and building his own. It was the one he was riding on now. It was something that was truly his, something that _he_ made. His own creation. 

Hours later, exactly how many Skull wasn't sure, he stopped at a gas station. It was rather funny seeing the wary gazes he was getting with his current get-up. As he pulled in, he spotted a man dressed as nearly as funny as he was. 

The man was dressed in a red ringmaster costume. He was a pale skinned—though not as pale as Skull looked—and a dark brunette with strong features. He was looking around, almost expecting someone. 

Skull's intuition rang. Trouble at the same time not-trouble. Skull caught himself before he groaned. Whenever his intuition was like that, it was chaos. He wouldn't get hurt, but stressed. The paperwork. Like the time Luna had caused an _incident_ and 'Harry' had to go smooth it out. Why 'Harry'? Because Harry wasn't experienced enough to deal with it.

However troublesome it was, his intuition was urging him to accept whatever came his way. As Skull was waiting for his tank to be filled, the ringmaster approached him. As he attempted to avoid looking at the approaching man, he saw a stray flyer with the colorful pictures and fonts announcing a circus. 

Well, he knew what circus this man came from. The ringmaster sheepishly smiled and nervously asked, “H-hey there, nice weather we're having, r-right?"

Skull's voice conveyed his sarcastic feeling with his flat tone, "Yes, what about it?" The ringmaster immediately froze, shrinking up in on himself, fidgeting with the golden tassels attached to his costume. The ringmaster stared at his feet, as if the answer of life was there.

"Well to cut to the chase, would you, um, mind being a stuntman for a day? Um, our stuntman just recently quit, and our show's starting soon. Oh, don't worry, it's not dangerous, it only looks that way, really. And, well, I mean, uh, don't worry, uh, we'll pay you?" The nervous ringmaster rambled on, his last sentence turning into a question. Skull watched him from under the helmet, amused.

All of a sudden, a heavily make-up wearing woman-no, male as Skull's intuition was telling him-with a scandalous costume came, marching out from the direction of where the carnival was suppose to be. He growled, one of frustration, "Jason, stop being so nervous! Just ask him and stop being so uncertain. _I'm_ getting your nerves from over here."

He marched up to Percy and sighed. "Sorry about that. So, we need a stuntman after our last one ditched. We'll pay well, but unlike what Jason said, it _will be_ dangerous. We'll teach you a bit then set you loose. Don't worry, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to."

Skull smiled wolfishly, not that anyone could see it through the helmet. If anything happened he'd blame his intuition. "Sure."


	3. Chapter 3

Evidently, they didn't think he'd accept. He ignored their shocked expressions as he put the pump back and paid for his gas.

"Why so shocked? Didn't think I say yes?" Skull said, letting amusement color his tone. At any other time in his life he would have refused. But when he said yes, something just felt _right_. It left his intuition purring in contentment. It only cemented his resolve in his decision to do this.

Jason, the timid ringmaster, closed his gaping mouth and shook his head frantically. "No, no. It's just, um, we've," he said, gesturing between him and the other man, "Been asking for the whole morning."

The other man erased the shocked look on his face before sticking out a hand. "I'm Joel. Thanks for accepting, we had 'til dusk to find a replacement, and you've just made the job much easier."

Jason squeaked. "Right! Oh, um, I'm Jason. I-if you didn't catch it when Joel screamed it out." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Skull mentally chuckled on the inside. He and Jason Grace were so different. One shy, the other confident.

Moving away from that train of thought, Skull started with the current topic. "So, are you going to show me a few tricks? 'Cause I'll warn you, I've never done anything like that."

"Right. So, if you could follow us, we'll take you to the tents."

The two turned around and started walking. They hopped into a car, surprisingly normal, before driving off. Skull merely got on his motorcycle and followed behind them. Coming to the outskirts of the small town, a circus was being constructed. 

Random calls about placing things in certain spots, and being berated for doing something wrong was bouncing off the walls. Skull got off his motorcycle and followed the pair into a large colorful tent.

It had a sign that said stuff about thrills and stunts. Skull couldn't really tell, dyslexia decided it was the right time to strike. He was glad he could read that much, that fast.

Ducking under the tent curtains, he was surprised to see an entire dirt track along with lots of stands fitting into the deceptively small-looking tent. An old man was sweeping the track, muttering things Skull couldn't hear, but apparently Jason and Joel could by their embarrassed expressions. 

The man was likely the only one who was wearing something normal, just a shirt and jeans. He was slightly slouched and had white and grey streaking his blonde hair that was just long enough to be put in a short ponytail.

The old man looked up and stopped sweeping. "Well, well, it seems that you could actually find someone to do stunts. I didn't think you'd be able to do it. Let me see the crazy person who you managed to delude."

Skull stepped forward, attracting the attention of the old man. "That's me."

Surprise lit up the old man's eyes. He took in Skull's all purple get-up and his voice and size. He opened his mouth to playfully say, "They must have kidnapped you, little kid." Cries of outrage came from both of the performers as they started protesting.

Ignoring the protest, the old man turned serious and started to warn Skull. "Are you sure you know what you're getting into? If you want to do this, you have to sign that you're fine with the stunts. And it can be lethal in the worse case scenarios." 

After his warning, the old man shooed away Joel and Jason, telling them to go to work and let the kid think it over. They exited the tent, complaining. Or, mainly Joel complaining rather loudly with Jason staring at his feet.

Waving away the warnings, Skull smiled—not that it was seen or could be seen with the helmet he was wearing—and nodded his head. "Just give me the forms to sign. It's fine." He had to do this, his intuition was telling him that if he missed this opportunity to do this, he would miss his chance for his wish to come true.

The old man sighed and muttered something about impulsive teenagers. He put the broom down and walked behind the stands. Skull followed. He saw the old man shuffle around a lot of random items. 

Coming back successful with a stained and crumpled paper in his hand, the old man thrusted it at him along with a pen and grunted, "My name's Arthur. Sign it before I take it back." He paused before adding, "Take off the helmet as well. I need to see what you look like." 

Skull quickly read over the terms, or as quickly as he could with his handicap of dyslexia. After spending several minutes of making sense of everything, he signed. After handing back the paper, Skull took off his helmet.

Arthur made a small noise of surprise when he saw Skull's 'face'. "Who knew, you might be the perfect person for the circus, boy. Come now, let's get you started." He walked away, rather speedily for an old man.

Skull trailed him, ignoring the feeling of _right_ he got as he signed the contract.

* * *

Skull was a natural born at stunts. Perhaps some of the contributing factors was that it was likely the least scariest thing he had gone through compared to the rest of his life. It was relaxing. Much like just riding his motorcycle, it was the feeling of the wind giving way to Skull at high speeds, cutting through the air. So much like the ocean. _The ocean._

The only difference was that there was more adrenaline. Skull was admittedly somewhat of a thrill seeker, to a certain degree. After Arthur had shown Skull what to do and where the props were, he had let him loose. 

Skull had taken advantage of his fast healing, fake-immortality and lack of fear to take what he learned to new heights, in the past few hours. At first Arthur had checked on him on his first crash and fall but after the last thirty, he just didn't bother.

Skull stood at the top of the ramp. With a push he went down, full speed. He felt the rush as he went flying through hoops and other props. A whoop escaped his lips as Skull temporarily let go of the handle bars and did a flip in mid-air. It came to an end as he got to the floor, landing rather smoothly.

Arthur just shook his head. Skull took his helmet off. He ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the unfamiliar length and sensation. He wanted to go again and aging and again but he had to stop at some point.

Skull called out to Arthur, "Hey, I'm going to go out, I need to do something. I'll be back tomorrow at seven." Not expecting a reply back, he immediately rolled his motorcycle out, while putting his helmet back on. Skull rode out, still feeling a yearning to do stunts, not willing to lose the temporary freedom he was feeling.

Shaking his head, he reminded himself that he still had to find a place to sleep. He was in Australia, it was where one of the Black houses was located and he had stayed there till he had tied his loose ends up. He didn't know where in Australia he was, courtesy of riding for hours randomly, but he had landed himself in a circus with a small job as a stuntman. Everything was _right._

Skull was ready for tomorrow. He didn't know how it would go, but he was ready. Skull was basking in the warmth of _right_ that he was feeling ever since he had said yes to being a stuntman. 

Perhaps he was being a bit optimistic, but he was feeling _fine_ for once. Feeling _right_ with everything. Content in the bed of a cheap motel he had found. Everything was alright in his world, for now.


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost slightly uncomfortable, being in the spotlight. But being able to go through his stunts made everything a bit better. The rush of adrenaline, the near death attempts.

The spotlight reminded Skull of his time as being Percy, the son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three children. Masquerading as Harry, having to pretend to be someone entirely different than himself. 

It was the roaring crowds that differed in what he was doing. The one that was cheering him on for his talents, not what his title was. And if they gave him a title later, well, it was all fun and games. 

He had developed his stage personality, one that he had used to replace his old personality. Loud and brash in front of the crowd, and loud yet cowardly, only when not in front of the crowd. It cut down any chance of his past finding him.

He was almost infamous now, as the man-that-Death-hated, the immortal stuntman. At his first job in being a stuntman, he had asked if he could go full time. Almost immediately they had accepted his proposal. It was fun. But like everything else in his life, it didn't last long.

The people had fired him when he took a fall that he shouldn't have survived. Skull didn't think it was weird, as he had fallen farther before. But it wasn't normal. No, not to them. 

Not the purple fire that healed him, not the orange that he hid. With the knowledge that he had gained from traveling everywhere, he could hide his flames. Instead of being the Master of Death like Harry, he had his flames, it seemed. It was put in very vague terms about what he should do, but he allowed his Cloud flames, as they were called to his amusement, to protect and hide his orange flames. 

His orange flames, Lky flames as he found out, were much more powerful than most, yet he found out it's better to be purple than orange. Even the hidden world of flame-powered mortals were afraid of the too powerful, with their mysterious flames. 

So he had to hide himself again, it was fine, he was used to it. _He was used to it_. Even as he had to quit, due to his Cloud flames, surviving what shouldn't be survived he was okay.

It was fine, Skull had traveled through many different circuses. He had met with people, actors, even became the stunt double in many dangerous movies. He had gotten awards, has been called the best in many different fields. 

Sometimes he would disappear for a bit, and pretend to be another person, taking random jobs. Being a barista, secretary, and other jobs. Then he would come back. Skull always came back.

It has been a year since he had got his body back, technically he was eighteen now. Though not old enough to choke down alcohol the way he did, drinking it by the barrel, he still did it. It was the easiest way to cope with things. No matter how much he drank, it still wasn't enough to get himself drunk. And if any one asked if he was old enough, well, his fake I.D. was being used.

Skull was at an unknown bar, empty barrels of alcohol around him. His helmet was off, transformed into a pair of glasses, and he had changed his looks to something older, and less caked with make-up as his younger stage face was. 

His clothes were changed to something less flashy. Taking another swig of the alcohol, he growled and shuffled through his clothes. Only to find a large wad of cash, and slammed it on the table. He fiddled with his glasses, and put them on. 

Skull knew what he was doing, it has happened on the bad days. Drinking another barrel, he got up and steadily walked out, something he knew that freaked out the people who just saw him guzzle gallons of alcohol down.

He walked back to his trailer, the chilly night air refreshing him. Coming closer, he knew immediately that someone was in his trailer. It didn't matter to him. Eventually he'd leave and the trailer would be somebody else's. Perhaps the unknown intruder was a fan. One that was trying to get closer to the infamous stuntman.

Walking in the trailer, he spotted his unknown intruder. A man with an obviously fake disguise was sitting on the couch seats. With a metal hat, interesting scars and a checker design on his face, along with a staff. Definitely not a fan. 

Skull, on his way to the trailer, had already changed his looks back, to a younger-his real age actually-purple-haired person who was wearing heavy make-up, a tight purple motorcycle suit and holding a purple motorcycle helmet. 

"Hey! Why are you in the Great Skull-sama's trailer?" Skull's loud, boisterous voice echoed through his small trailer.

The man chuckled. He seemed to ignore the strong scent of alcohol that Skull knew he smelt like. "Say, do you, Skull DeMort, want to be a part of the _I Prescelti Sette_?" 

Skull eyed him suspiciously and loudly questioned. "Why would I want to do that? What is that? Who are you? If you're here for the Great Skull-sama's signature, then please leave."

The strange man held an invitation over to him. Skull grabbed it, not looking at it.

Ignoring him, the man got up and in a burst of mist flames, disappeared. Skull took a look at the invite, telling him where and when he should arrive. After taking a look, he tossed it away. The Chosen Seven, _I Prescelti Sette,_ so similar to the Prophecy of Seven and The Seven Heroes of Olympus. _Why? Why was it always him?_

Skull knew the drill, if he accepted, then well, something bad would happen and he'd have to help out. They would have to drag him there kicking and screaming if they wanted him to go.

Skull flopped on his bed, thoughtlessly changing his clothes and fell asleep.

* * *

There was danger in the air. Perhaps it was coming from the way the small, single lightbulb was swinging in the middle of the room, making the shadows lengthen and grow. 

However, it was brought by the inhabitants of the room. A fedora wearing hitman was sitting in his seat, cleaning his gun, carrying danger like it was a part of him. A green haired scientist was furiously scribbling notes in a notebook. A man who was wearing all red with extremely long black hair was calmly sitting still, a scent of danger coming from him, eyes closed in meditation. A woman with blue hair wearing a soldier's uniform was polishing a knife. A hooded figure with purple hair that peeked out was counting money. They were all sitting on chairs with their individual color.

The door opened and all attention swung toward it. A pregnant lady walked out. She was holding a tray of cookies. "Hello," she said kindly. "Would you like cookies?"

The man who was wearing danger like a cloak broke the silence. "Why are we here?" His voice held an undercurrent that was _demanding_ an answer to his question.

The pregnant lady laughed and clapped her hands again, almost as if she was humoring a child. "Hello, I'm Luce. Your questions will all be answered when Checker face comes back with our missing member. This will not work if we are missing somebody!"

Silence. Her eyes surveyed the room, finally stopping at the empty chair. "Oh, that's right! Checker face went to get him. Anyways, why don't we say our introductions?" She laughed happily, clapping her hands.

The man with the fedora tilted his said fedora down, and in a low smooth voice introduced himself, "Reborn. The greatest hitman in the world."

"Verde. Scientist." The green haired scientist didn't look up from his scribbling of notes.

"Fon. Martial artist." The man dressed in red didn't open his eyes, from what he looked to be meditating.

"Lal Mirch. Soldier." The fierce blue haired woman put away the knife she had been diligently sharpening and looked up.

"If you want information, pay up."

Luce merely sighed and forked up some cash.

As the hooded figure counted the money twice, and satisfied, they answered, "Viper. Informant."

"Alright, let's just wait until Checker face comes back with our missing member."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Moments after Luce said his name, the aforementioned Checker face appeared, a bundle on his shoulder. It was screaming muffled profanities at him and the mysterious man barely looked ruffled. "This is Skull. A stuntman."

Checker face approached the chair and Skull found himself sitting in the chair, though chained and muffled. Skull narrowed his eyes in anger. When he got out he was going to _destroy_ that man.

Luce sweetly continued on, not at all concerned with her struggling guest. "All right, you just have to go on a few missions and you will get quite a bit of cash. That's it. That's all."

Verde finally looked up and narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "What's the catch?"

"No catch, just have to do a few missions." 

The conversation went on as all of the members at the table tried to find some type of restrictive clause. They finally untagged Skull, who had quite a scary look on his face. Looking around, he decided to play a type of naive person. It was acting and he had more than enough experience from being Harry. 

"I have no idea why the Great Skull-sama is here! The Great Skull-sama demands that you unchain me now!"

They immediately put the gag back on, and instead started to discuss something about a civilian. At least that's what it sounded like to Skull.

He broke out of his chains, and charged out of the door. Checker face was expecting that. Skull was delivered back to the room. Skull was chained down, restrained in the chair.

Skull hated this. This reminded him of all the times somebody would need him, would need his help. And instead of asking, of saying what was wrong, they tore what they needed out of him. He lost little pieces of himself, pieces getting taken and not given. Never given. It would have helped, just a bit.

Opening his mouth, he dove into his loud, brash, _cowardly_ persona. Skull was running on auto-pilot now, it didn't matter, nothing ever did.

"Why have you kidnapped the Great Skull-sama? What is going on with that man's fedora? Why is that man's hair so long? Why does that woman have guns? What is with the weird pregnant lady? Who is that person wearing a hood? Why does that man have green hair?" Skull's mouth shot out question after question, to the others' growing ire.

"Shut. Up." Reborn growled. "If you say _one_ _more_ _word_ , you will find a bullet in your head."

Skull faded into his cowardly persona and immediately shut up. It didn't matter what it costs, he was going to get out. 

Luce seemed to find this funny and started introducing the group. "Hello! I'm Luce, the weird pregnant lady. The one who just threatened you was Reborn-"

"The World's Greatest Hitman." Reborn interrupted.

Luce continued on as if he hadn't said anything, "The one who has long hair, as you say, is Fon. The woman with guns is Lal Mirch. That's Viper, the hooded person. The man that has green hair is Verde."

Skull seemed to ignore her. He started to whine. "Why am I here? Ahhh, I want to go home. There isn't enough alcohol for today. Whyyyyy?" 

The rest seemed to tune out his whining. "It's almost certain that Skull is a civilian."

"I did not sign up for this _babysitting_. I will do the missions, but I will not _babysit._ If you will be anything, you shall be...a lackey." Reborn spat the word out in distaste.

Fon opened his eyes and silently nodded. The rest of I Prescelti Sette _,_ excluding the topic of the conversation, made general sounds of agreement. _Lackey._

The rest of the meeting was a copy of the conversations, finding if the missions had any bad backlash on them, and complaining about the civilian.

* * *

Skull was in the unwanted room. Well, it was less of a room and more of an abandoned closet. But that was fine, it was larger than the majority of the rooms he had slept in before.

He was going over the day. He was on his cot thinking about what he was going to do. His stuff that Checker face had brought were carelessly thrown in the corner. Was he going to escape? Should he escape?

No. Stay. His intuition hissed at him. A low steady pattern. Family. Stay. Family. Stay. And at last, _don't leave_.

It was fine then, he'd be a lackey. A lackey, nothing important. When he registered his thoughts joy rushed through him. _Nothing important_. 

It was almost a first for him, being nothing important. Other than when he was younger, he was unimportant, just Smelly-Gabe's punching bag. But this, this meant he could have his freedom. 

Skull curled up into a ball at his thoughts. A soft smile on his face was the only sign of the pure freedom he felt in that moment. 

Letting himself bask in the warmth the thought of freedom gave him, because he knew no matter how good it seemed, it wouldn't last. Not with the way his intuition was whispering to him.


	5. Chapter 5

It was very, very slowly getting on his nerves. Skull could feel the flames of the others' and they were just as powerful as they boasted. But Luce's, her flames were a cloying and sugary sweet sky flame. Sure, she was powerful, but the sensation was _awful._

In order to calm the _I Prescelti Sette_ she would _constantly_ brush her flames over the volatile group. Perhaps it felt nice to the others, but all Skull felt was repulsed. He made it his duty to stay far away from the Sky.

It was obvious that everyone had noticed his avoidance of the Sky that many would kill for to even get a taste, but since Skull had his own Sky flames, with the difference between his and the Sky's, he just felt disgust. At the most, they chalked it up to him being a Cloud. 

"Lackey! Go make me an espresso!" Reborn called out, waving his gun threateningly from where he sat on the other side of the room.

Skull bravely retorted, "Go make your own!"

The answering shot was more than enough to make Skull rush off and hustle to the kitchen. He came back grumbling about an abusive hitman. He roughly placed the cup next to where the hitman was sitting.

Reborn only tilted his fedora down. "Did you say something, _Lackey_." The sentence was more of a demand than a question.

"No-nope! The Great Skull-sama didn't say anything!"

The rest of the group didn't even blink, the occurrence was so common that it was useless to try to intervene. Instead, some even decided to join in with the weekly entertainment. 

"Muu~ get me some lemonade." Viper called out.

Skull just grumbled some more, but dutifully went to go get him some lemonade. Arriving at the fridge, he decided just to get everybody their preferred drinks in order to have them stop ordering him around. Maybe his method in trying to make them stop it was contradictory, but whatever.

He grabbed all of the drinks and balanced them on a tray. Waiting for Fon's tea, he prepared all of the other drinks along with some cookies, for Luce. Sweeping the drinks up as the tea finishes heating, he goes back into the room, walking around and giving them their drinks.

Grumpily, Viper says, "You owe me 20 euros. You were too slow."

"What?!" Skull screeched. His voice gradually went higher in pitch as he whined. "Come on! Viper, whyyyyyyy?!"

A hand snaked out and hit him, straight on his head. Yelping, Skull balefully glared at Lal Mirch who cleaning her guns and glaring at his screechiness. 

Fon gently chuckled, his smile hidden behind his long sleeves. Verde was typing away on a computer, totally ignoring his surroundings, only stopping to take a sip out of the glass of coconut water Skull had brought him.

Skull frowned. He didn't know what was going to happen soon, but it wouldn't be good. His intuition was nagging at him. It was contradicting itself, warning him of danger and telling him to accept it. Skull brushed away the sudden urge to groan and bury his face in his hands. Why was his life so complicated sometimes?

The feeling got stronger. The door opened. Luce's hat could be seen before the person herself. Warning bells. Skull didn't know what Luce had brought, trouble-wise, but it wasn't going to turn out well.

She gracefully walked in, lightly knocking on the door to get their attention, not that any of them actually missed her intrusion. Smiling sweetly, she said, "Hey, why don't we go on a picnic. It's a nice day outside. Also, I'll brief you on your last mission once we get settled."

She gently reached out with her flames, calming all of the members of the group, except for Skull. He only felt warier when she said that. A chill went down his back. Nothing good would come of this, that he could swear.

* * *

It hurt. It honestly didn't top his top five moments of pain, but it could fit snugly in his top fifteen. Skull stared at his hands. Small baby hands. He tuned out the screaming that was coming from the other members of the Arcobaleno. 

The world seemed to spin as he realized what had happened. He was a baby. No... _no_. _No_. No!!

His clothes had transformed with him, courtesy of being given to him by a Goddess. It was still the same monstrously purple motorcycle suit.

At the bottom of the hill was his motorcycle, which he could no longer ride due to his size. _No._ Shaking his thoughts away, he grabbed his helmet that shrunk to his... _size_.

He apparated. Perhaps it was one of the perks of being able to do magic, but teleportation was useful. Running in, Skull saw the signs. There was staff right now, moving the large furniture out and replacing it with the exact same thing, except smaller and more suited to people of Skull's size. 

Fading into the shadows, he approached his little closet that was his room. He threw the door open, uncaring of hiding anymore. He grabbed his bag that had all of his belongings in it. A habit from his younger days.

It was all a blur. A numb, dazed blur. When he finally came back to his senses, he was outside of an apartment. He recognized the place. It was oh, so, so familiar. So, so familiar. Just staring at it made him feel achingly empty.

Skull— _no, Percy—_ was in New York, standing outside of an awfully familiar apartment. He didn't go in anymore. _He missed her. Perhaps that's why he_ woke up _here. Percy missed his mom. He missed Sally Jackson. He wanted to be three again, with blurry memories of an ocean cabin. He wanted somewhere safe, he wanted_ home _._

Scrubbing his face, he walked away, shadows trailing behind him. He shouldn't had even been here. The city was their domain, and in it, they could find him so much easier. 

The sun was setting with the clouds covering the full-moon that night. With the all-consuming darkness, nobody noticed the small infant that had a shadow of a broken teenager.

* * *

**[On the Arcobaleno's side; Reborn]**

Blood-chilling screams echoed from on top of the isolated mountain. Reborn had lived by his mantra _'Do everything with your dying will'._ He had taken the title of the Greatest. Of course, he figured, why shouldn't he? 

He made sure he double checked everything, as having a reputation as fearsome as he did meant enemies. Plus, you can't survive in the underworld without a healthy dose of paranoia.

 _But this,_ he was a child, a baby, an _infant_. It was almost sickening, he felt when he saw Luce apologize over and over to them. She knew. _And she didn't do anything about it._ At this thought, his flames lashed out, breaking the fragile bond that he and Luce had shared.

He didn't know where the Lackey was, but true to his cloud personality, Skull had split. And now Reborn was an infant and having a meeting with the rest of the Arcobaleno, excluding the Lackey and Luce. As the strongest, he was the unofficial leader. Perhaps this wasn't going his way now, but heaven help whoever doubted it, he was The Greatest Hitman in the World. _And he would do this with his dying will._

**[Fon]**

Fon was called 'The Eye of the Storm' many times. But now, he wanted to rage. He wanted raze this mountain to the ground. His flames were angry, raging and ready to destroy.

So, he took a deep breath and looked around. He, along with everyone else, was listening to Reborn while Luce was frantically apologizing to them in the background. He was watching the newest addition to the group, Colonnello.

Fon wasn't known as the 'Eye of the Storm' for nothing. After his loss in composure, he was already composed. He could destroy things later, now, he needed to listen. But later, that training room would _not_ survive.

**[Lal Mirch]**

She was ready to strangle the idiot. He had been stalking her. Professing love confessions, singing her praises. But this was the final straw, she was going to lecture him to death later.

But, now she needed to figure out what her pacifier meant. A stone grey pacifier, compared to the rest of the others'. Lal didn't know what Luce had done to them, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel the tiniest bit betrayed.

But she just had to figure out what was going on, with her flames calming her down yet egging her on, she would piece out her feelings later and deal with everything now.

**[Viper]**

He didn't know how to feel. His flames were hissing in anger. He wanted to disappear, hide away and run, like what Skull did. After all, the mist is just a ground-bound cloud.

Viper wanted to complain, he wanted to throw a fit. But he couldn't do that. No. Even as the pain seemed to overwhelm him during his... _transformation._ He wouldn't succumb to the urge and he'd demand a fee.

Viper started formatting plans. There was no way he was going to get out of this without a profit. He ignored the fact that he was simply denying what had happened.

**[Verde]**

Verde badly wanted his notebook. While he was distressed that he was a small child again, he also wanted to figure out what had happened. He wasn't that connected with his flames, even as they stung in anger, he still wanted to figure out what had happened.

He could tell that his anger, his irritation was affecting his thoughts. He was having stray thoughts about how he would rage later. But he couldn't, he had to stay disconnected. If he felt, then he would be out of his zone. 

Adding his own comments to whatever Reborn was saying helped focused him. He was here, now. And everything would come later. Verde would address his matters later and try to ignore the way Luce apologized for _this._

**[Colonnello]**

Colonnello was an expressive person, so whenever he liked something, it couldn't be hidden from other people. So, after a long time of thinking, he went after what he liked. 

Lal Mirch. She was amazing. (And she ran him over with a tank. It was great.) It was almost automatic when the light burst out. His reflexes almost seemed slow as he pushed Lal back and took the light on, fully. A little bit got past him, but he didn't really worry about that. 

He did worry when it started hurting. He had gone through grenades, knives and bullets, but this put everything to shame. _He shrank_. 

The first topic of discussion after everything had finally cleared up for both him and the interesting group that Lal had been hanging with, was him. He didn't really understand everything, not with the Luce lady apologizing like she killed his friends. 

He didn't get it until it finally registered. _The lady knew. She knew that_ Lal Mirch _was going to be turned in to this Arcobaleno-thing._ And while he felt his blue flames want to drown the object of their anger, they also soothed him.

He would deal with the mess later, now, he would figure out exactly what he had gotten himself into.

**[Luce]**

She felt so _bad_. 

But it was so _necessary._

The visions had come again and again. But she saw herself, sorrowfully smiling to a child. She knew she wouldn't survive long and bound the group to her bloodline.

But as much as it reassured her, her ability, it scared her. She couldn't see Skull. Even when he showed up in her visions, it would always be a back view, or a side view. Never his front. She watched as he shied away from her Sky flames. 

She felt so guilty, but it was worth it. To her. Maybe they wouldn't understand her decision now, but maybe later they would understand.

It would have all been worth it.


	6. Chapter 6

Skull really didn't know what to do. For once, he felt like he was drowning, ironic as he was a son of the sea. He felt like he was sinking, struggling for air, and could only powerlessly watch as the dark abyss swallowed him whole.

He was at a random motel, collapsed on the bed. After showing up in New York, he had immediately left and apparated over to the ocean, not wanting to stay there any longer. He didn't actually know where he was, only that it was a motel near the calming sea.

Skull flipped onto his stomach, feeling his small body sink into the cheap and questionable sheets.

He really didn't know how to feel, as he didn't know what to make of his new pacifier that went with his baby look. After the shock wore away, Skull knew that he'd felt rage.

He knew he wanted to rage, that he was suppressing it. But, that was for tomorrow, right now, he felt tired with today's surprises. His heavy eyelids started to slowly close as his mind slowly surrendered to the murky darkness.

And when he woke up, if he was screaming and crying hysterically for all the things and people he's lost, then that's nobody's business but his.

* * *

After Skull checked out of the motel, he had gone over to the ocean. Hugging his knees, he watched the waves.

Thinking about the events that led up to his baby size, he felt a cold fury. Looking around and seeing nobody around he released the anger that had been churning inside him.

His emotions that he had been blocking off rushed in. Panic, fear, anger, disgust, fury, loss, hatred, sadness, and a heavy sense of apathy. A heavy feeling sat in his chest, suffocating him. In those seconds, it was getting harder to breath. He started panting, desperately gasping for breath.

Skull's flames came out with the different shades of his emotions. His Sky flames were the one that raged the hardest, compared to his Cloud flames.

They lashed out at the sand around him, the orange and purple flames dancing around a small infant who was hugging his knees. His magic joined in on the erratic dance, the small particles of sand transforming into random things and swirling around him.

The breeze kicked up the sand, and the ocean waves, feeling his distress, started to wildly slap the coast.

Skull felt so lost. He didn't know how or why he was always dragged into these matters, but it was so frustrating. No one listened. They never understood. His emotions tighten in his chest, just as he thought he had stopped breathing, a tension he never knew he had was alleviated.

And suddenly he was crying. Skull's vision blurred up and sobs started coming out of his mouth. The noise got louder and louder till he was wailing. It wasn't fair. But life wasn't fair.

He just wanted a family. Somewhere to go when tired with people who he could trust. Why was that such a hard demand?

His intuition whispered to him. _It's okay, you'll be fine. One day, one day, you'll get your wish. It will take time and it will be hard, but you'll have your wish. Your wish will be granted._

It didn't reassure him. The flames shot up, as if they were stimulated. They raced around in a wild and uncontrolled manner, his magic supporting the out-burst. If anything, his wails got louder and he started crying harder. _Please... I never wanted this._

After his out-burst, his sobs slowly died down. His flames and magic started to dance around him soothingly instead of wildly, as they were doing before. Skull gained control over his emotions. But even with his newfound control, he was a hair's-breadth away from snapping. And at the same time he was so exhausted.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Skull decided to figure out what was going on. He had a problem and now he had to find a solution to it. If something bad was going to happen to him, he was going to make the best out of it. He would travel the world while searching for a solution to the curse.

Like all the other times he had been thrown in a problem head first, he would survive, perhaps come out a bit more broken and scarred, but he would survive and—his intuition better be telling the truth—he'd find a family that would help him heal.

* * *

Skull was at the library of the small town that he landed in. It was a strange sight, a baby reading a book bigger than his head.

Skull's eyes that were scanning the pages stopped, as he abruptly slammed the book closed. The information he needed wasn't found in the books in the library. But, he supposed, it was just a random library on the coast, so he'd have to go to another place to find information about his curse.

That's what he'd do. He'd travel the world for knowledge. Think about this, he couldn't help but remember the small wish he had when he was younger.

Percy had wished to travel the world and explore, far away from Smelly-Gabe. It was one of his motivations for learning different languages and cultures when he was younger. Now, he could proudly say he could basically speak several different languages, including his instinctive Greek and Latin. He was learning a few more, courtesy of the fact that the Wizarding world had several random languages.

Placing the book back, he started to walk out of the library. Grabbing his duffle bag and his helmet, he tried to figure out a new mode of transportation. Skull really wanted his motorcycle.

He sighed, it didn't matter. In the moment, Skull wanted to see something familiar. Like Harry. Perhaps this was the infamous Potter luck that Harry was always talking about. But, it could just be Percy, his luck was already horrible.

Skull's face lit up as he thought of an idea. He could call Harry. He grabbed his duffle bag and stuck his hand in, grabbing the small pebble. Thanks to magic, the inside of the duffle bag was much bigger than it seemed.

Skull stared at the rock. Closing his eyes, he sighed. He wanted to see something familiar, but he couldn't. He just couldn't bring himself to call Harry. Skull didn't want to be reminded of the cage that he was trapped in. Not so soon after his curse. He clenched his fist, making sure not to break the pebble.

He hated it, in that second. Resisting the urge to throw the pebble he placed it back in his duffle bag, not before removing the tracking feature of the rock. Skull stared up into the sky.

Before he started his search for information, he was going to get lost. Really lost, so lost that he wouldn't know where he was.

* * *

Skull had no idea where he was.

None. Nada. Zilch. He was very lost. Especially if he just saw penguins. Where in the world was he?

So when Skull said that he was going to get lost, this was not what he meant. The baby in question sighed and after he placed his duffle bag that held his helmet down, he cradled his head in his hands.

Picking his head up, he watched as the small flightless bird slide down an ice hill. It looked fun, and ignoring his concerns, the purple-wearing baby joined in. He had spelled his clothes with a heat charm, so he wasn't cold.

It was kinda fun.

[Extra:

On that day, scientists observed a small infant tobogganing with a colony of Emperor penguins.

Watching the monitor, a scientist went silent. The scientist started rapidly talking to the other person in the room with an edge of hysteria in his voice, “H-hey, Tim, are you seeing this? Tell me that I'm insane. I think I just saw a _baby wearing a purple motorcycle suit tobogganing with a colony of Emperor penguins_. I must be insane. Yeah, that's it."

Huffing, Tim walked over. "Drink more water, or stop staring at the snow. Don't you know..."

As Tim's sentence trailed off, the other scientist paled. "Tim. Don't tell me. No."

Tim turned to face the other scientist. He slowly reached up and grasped the other's shoulders firmly, staring the other straight in the eye. "Bob, I think we both need a break—and a mental health test."

That day, the administrator was confused to find two reports that reported the sight of a baby that was sighted tobogganed with a colony of Emperor penguins.]


	7. Chapter 7

Skull silently slipped through the doors into the library. He grabbed one of the books, and using his Cloud flames, duplicated it. Then, he shoved it into the bag he was carrying.

The bag was enchanted, so the bag could literally fit the whole library. And that was exactly what Skull did. He tediously walked through the rows and used his Cloud flames to duplicate all of them.

Task completed, he started to sneak out again. Honestly, he didn't remember which Famiglia this was, just that they had a ton of books. But, that's all that was needed, right?

* * *

Slowly flipping through the last pages of the book, Skull puzzled out some of the words, translating it to Ancient Greek for good measure. A frown got bigger and bigger as he finished the last of the words.

Feeling tempted to slam the book close, he made sure to close it gently. The book didn't have any answers, it said the same things.

Arcobaleno were cursed to take the pacifiers for the balance of the world, Checkerface definitely wasn't human and the curse killed the holders of the pacifiers. Blah, blah, blah. Skull had checked in many other books and that's what they all said.

He needed to figure out where the curse came from and if there was any way of diverting it. Even with his magical texts, he still couldn't figure it out. Skull could possibly ask mythologicals, but he didn't want to return to that world. Petty, but whatever.

All he truly discovered was that there were other rings that had around the same duty as pacifiers did. Skull had read further into it, and found out that the rings were called the Vongola rings, as well as the Mare rings.

But that's where everything turns worse. All of the rings _belong to a mafia group_.

What the heck is it with people?! Can't they just give _powerful_ and _dangerous_ and _destructive_ things to people who aren't a secretive society?!

Seriously?! Common sense, anybody? (Skull ignores the fact that, he is, in some way related to all of the said societies.)

Sighing, he hopped up with the book to put it back. He now had an expansive library that basically had every single book that he could get his hands on. Skull was situated on an airship-a major 'f-you' to his uncle-and again with the helpfulness of magic, he made the inside way bigger than it looked on the outside. He lived there now, his stuff occupying the place. So, of course, he made sure everything was of the best possible quality.

His library stretched from ceiling to floor, rows and rows of books and one could easily get lost in there for days.

Skull knows, it was a very traumatizing experience. 

* * *

Skull was walking down the street and saw... him. Immediately, Skull spun on his heel and started speed walking away.

He does _not_ know that person. Nope. If he ignored him, he'd go away. Yep. That person does not exist.

Do _not_ acknowledge the small green-haired baby _with a green pacifier around his neck_.

His speed walking progressed into a jog, then a sprint. Obviously the one person he didn't want to see, saw him. After all, just as he was about to turn the corner, a net flew out...and caught Skull. He tripped, crashing to the floor with an undignified squeal. He grunted as he felt the weight of another suddenly press down on him.

Taking a breath before seeing Verde, he slipped back into his Skull persona. Skull shrieked, "Verde! What was that for?! Get off!"

"Idiot," Verde sniffed, "I know you saw me. But you ran away, and obviously I had to employ certain _measures_ to make sure that you wouldn't get away."

Skull sighed and stopped struggling. Grumpily he asked, "Well? What do you want with the Great Skull-sama?"

Verde coldly replied, "I'm collecting data on the... curse. I've done it with all of the others. You're the only one left."

Grumbling, Skull gave his consent. "Fine. The Great Skull-sama will let you collect data."

Verde hopped off of Skull and retracted his net. He walked away, clearly indicating for Skull to follow him. And Skull did, mumbling insults under his breath. But within a few moments, Skull's ire ended. He got over his irritation and started skipping to keep up with Verde.

"So, where are we going? Don't you just feel _honored_ to be in the presence of the Great Skull-sama?" Skull laughed joyfully. He smirked inwardly at Verde's small twitch of annoyance. Sometimes, being an annoying idiot was the best.

Verde ignored him, apart from the small twitch. He was used to it from the earlier days when they did their missions. Skull would always get over his emotions like a flip of the switch. It always annoyed Reborn.

Verde sped up, leading to Skull speeding up. The two stopped at a normal looking building. But, knowing Verde, Skull mused, it was likely equipped with tons of machinery that could kill somebody instantly. 

Verde walked into the building confidently. Pushing open the doors, Skull followed hesitantly and studied the room, which was entirely bare. The walls were a plain beige and the floor was cold concrete. In the middle of the room was a small podium, one that seemed to be made for someone Verde's size. 

Verde walked up to the podium, and Skull just watched as the green-haired baby placed his hand on a scanner that fit his baby-sized hand. Verde concentrated for a second and his hand lit up with green flames. With a flashing light on a small spot on the podium that he had missed, the building seemed to shake.

"Verde," Skull squeaked, "what on Earth did you just do?!"

Verde took his hand off of the scanner to push his glasses up. "Nothing."

"That is so not reassuring!"

Skull watched as the walls seemed to move, and a door appeared. Verde calmly walked through the door that was baby height. He paused at the doorway and impatiently called out, "What are you doing? Don't just stand there and gawk, hurry up!"

Staring at the scientist for a second, the purple haired baby followed. The small tunnel took the two to a lab behind the wall. 

In his lab, Verde started moving instantly. Muttering under his breath, he raced around, collecting data from experiments in his lab. It was neat, but there was just a lot happening at a time. The Lightning instantly forgot about the Cloud.

Coughing, Skull got Verde's attention. "Uh, what am I here for again?"

Grumbling, Verde silently pointed to a chair in the corner of the cramped lab. "Sit." Verde barked.

Skull made his way over to the chair, making sure to not touch _anything._ He maneuvered his way over, finally sitting on the chair. Verde was busy wheeling a machine over. 

Skull eyed it fearfully while Verde started messing with the buttons on the machine. He hooked the machine up to Skull. Skull tensed when Verde started strapping in Skull with large buckles.

Skull nervously asked, "...What are you doing?"

An evil glint briefly flashed in the scientist's eyes. "Just an experiment, oh, and collecting data. Just what I'm supposed to, of course."

The Lightning forgot about the other immediately, muttering to himself and quickly taking notes as he hooked Skull up to the machine, who was watching curiously as it immediately started flashing and beeping. Words moved across the screen, too fast for Skull to read, but easy enough for Verde, as he started writing the confusing data down.

Verde sighed with a disappointed look on his face as the information came to an end. "Of course," he muttered distractedly, "your 'immortality' appears to come from the Cloud flame's property, Propagation. It seems that after getting the flesh wound, your flames produce more cells to replace the lost cells. You could call it a false immortality, if I might say."

"Right. So, uh, can you let the Great Skull-sama out now?" Even if Skull _was_ immortal, Verde didn't need to know, he figured.

Verde hummed in response. While jotting down the information, Verde cut the buckles that restrained him. Skull hopped out of the chair, flexing his stiff muscles.

"Now that this is all finished, the Great Skull-sama will excuse himself. Kindly point out the exit _crazy scientist_ ," Skull muttered his last words under his breath.

His intuition sparked as Verde crossed his lab to a small green button. It told him that he really wouldn't like this. And it was right. 

After the Lightning slammed his hand down on the button, Skull had felt the rush of the wind that signaled the fact that he just went flying. 

Skull had never liked flying, or anything remotely _like_ flying. His stunts were okay, as he was in control. He was _willingly_ going into his uncle's domain. This, where he was forcefully flung into the air, it gave him anxiety and paranoia.

So when Verde had literally ejected him out of the lab-landing who knows where-Skull could say that he wasn't pleased. 

Groaning, he rubbed his head. Why didn't he bring his helmet today?! It was one of those days where he could've really used his helmet. Dang it.

Looking around, he noticed that he was near a beach. Although he liked the ocean, this felt a bit...fake. Frowning, he approached the water, peering at it closely. The sand was a brilliant white, and the waves, with a perfect blue, were lapping at the beach. On the beach was a scattering of rocks and some swaying palm trees. 

"This...this...this isn't real. The waves, the ocean. _It's so_ fake _."_ His last words came out in a disgusted hiss. 

Skull- _Percy_ \- loved the ocean. Perhaps it was his father's domain, but that didn't matter. It was _home._

And this...this was a mockery. It was lifeless and dull, even with all the 'sparkle'. And there was only one person that Skull knew that could create something like this. 

"Verde! What have you done to the Great Skull-sama!"

A disembodied chuckle sounded above him. "Interesting, you were the very first one to figure it out. The rest are still in their chambers."

"Verde," Skull growled, a threat concealed in his tone.

"Very well, seeing as you were the first one to realize that your surroundings were fake, I'll let you out. Then again it may be because you're a cloud. Cloud's know their territory more than any other." Verde's cold clinical voice was back as it tapered off as he went off, muttering new theories.

In one of the palm trees, a small door opened. Skull leapt through, eager to get out of the _pure disgusting mockingly fake quality of the place._

When he looked through, to his relief, he was outside. Wait, no. His intuition chirped. _The storm is brewing. A cloud is a sign of a storm._

He was in a traditional house, it looked to be of oriental origin. In the middle of the room was Fon. The walls were bare, only for a small piece of parchment rolled out next to the thin wood doors.

The Chinese characters were something that he recognized. It took him some time before he could read it. _The eye of the storm._ The rest of the room was empty, the floor a wooden pattern. Fon was silently sitting on a cushion next to a table that held mapo tofu. His face was calm and serene with his signature slight smile. 

But Skull could see underneath it. Fon was raging underneath. Right now, Skull could tell, Fon was struggling to get his emotions under control. Why, is something that Skull didn't know.

So, Skull charged right in. He never really planned out stuff for himself. Sure, he can strategize brilliant plans for other people, but once he's added to the equation, the plan goes down in flames.

Skull stood in front of Fon. Fon didn't react. Lovely. 

So, as the next best thing, Skull reached out to poke the unresponsive Storm. His intuition started singing. _You probably shouldn't do this._

Whatever, this would be fun. He'd have to watch Fon's reaction closely.

And he did react. Just as Skull's finger poked Fon, a fist shot out and with more strength than a baby should actually possess, it hit Skull and sent him flying. 

He hit the wall with an oomph.

His intuition started chiming in again. _Told you._

Whatever. Skull dusted himself off as he watched Fon slowly open his eyes. A slight smile, as always, graced Fon's face.

"Hello, Skull."


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Fon." Skull nervously chuckled. He brushed the non-existent dust off of him. Skull stood up and walked toward Fon from where he had been punched.

"So," Fon said calmly. "Why are you here, Skull?"

The black-haired baby reached out and grabbed a steaming cup of tea on the table in front of him. Skull blinked. He did not see that there earlier.

"Well, the Great Skull-sama had a little talk with Verde. And Verde took the Great Skull-sama to this"-Skull vaguely gestured at the area around him-"place."

Fon's eyes sharpened. He took a sip out of his cup before saying, "And you are here, in my _place,_ because..."

Fon trailed off, clearly wanting an answer of why Skull had invaded his area. Fon's flames, Skull felt, were high strung and very strained, unsure of what to make of the place around him.

"Well... This place, it's not real. I-It's just a place Verde created. The Great Skull-sama figured it out, and Verde told the Great Skull-sama to go over here. Verde has something that shows the place we want to go the most." A trace of wonder and longing enters Skull's eyes at the end of his words. 

He gazed off to the side for a second, thinking about the place that Verde had taken him to. After seeing the ocean he had felt the longing deep inside. It was easy to guess what had happened, because, obviously it was _fake_. And, well, Verde.

Shaking his head, Skull quickly went back into his bright and cheerful- though annoying-personality. His head swiveled around as he peered at the room around him. "Hahahaha. Your place is very different! Nothing like the place the Great Skull-sama found himself at!"

Fon still sat there and slowly sipped his tea. He sighed and placed his drink down. For a second he stared at Skull, and unknown emotion in his gaze. His serene mask slid back into place as Skull finally faced him.

"So that's why I felt something off about this place," Fon murmured. "It is very unpleasant to know that something is wrong, yet one cannot pinpoint it."

He hopped off of the cushion and walked toward Skull, face hidden behind his long red sleeve. "Very well, Skull, what shall we do?"

Skull smiled brightly and laughed in his high pitched and annoying way. "The Great Skull-sama called out to Verde. The Great Skull-sama had _no_ _idea_ what he was doing!"

Fon's slight smile shook for a second before stilling. "I see." 

Fon approached one of the bare walls. He lightly touched it, hand still on the wall. Fon mumbled something that Skull couldn't hear. the purple-haired baby curious about what he was doing and walked a bit closer. After Fon mumbled something, he took his hand off of the wall. 

Then he punched it. That entirely fit Skull's theory of Fon being abnormal, more-so than Reborn.

After all, the wall was _obliterated_.

Skull gaped. "What are you _doing_?!" His voice took on a hysterical edge.

Fon's smile seemed to take on an amused edge as he silently steps through his self-made hole. Fried wires were curled around the edges of the hole, plus with the addition of the obvious change in material, it was clear that they were in a machine. 

The black-haired baby gestured for Skull to follow as Skull stood there, frozen. Skull followed, silently horrified. _How is it that all the people I know are all insanely weird?!_

* * *

Two babies walk into a restaurant. What do they order? A house special and a water.

 _Hahaha._ Excellent joke.

But that's exactly what happened. After exiting Verde's machine, Skull and Fon found themselves a bit hungry. So, that had them hunting down a restaurant. Verde- _ever so helpfully_ -built his machine in the _absolute_ middle of nowhere.

So, after traveling a horrifying distance that Skull really, really didn't want to think about, the pair finally found themselves some semblance of society. 

"So," Skull started off, his voice an annoying, squeaky, high-pitched tone, the one he reserved for _Skull the Cloud Arcobaleno._ "What are we doing? And where are we?"

Skull watched gleefully as Fon winced as the high-pitched voice grated on his ears. Fon seemed to sigh, but answered his question. " _I_ have to go back to the Triads. It would be in _your_ best interest to join a Famiglia." 

Skull deflated and started whining. "The Great Skull-sama doesn't want to join a Famiglia!"

"Skull," Fon said warningly, "it is in your best interest to join a Famiglia, you would be protected. Unlike the rest of us, you are a civilian, right now, you don't have any prestige."

Skull continued to pout, ignoring the small sting of emotions he didn't want to face at the word _'civilian'. Because nobody is willing to explain anything to a_ civilian.

Their conversation was interrupted as a waiter warily approached them. "Uh, hello. Have you decided to order anything yet?"

Not taking his eyes off Skull, Fon ordered the house special. Skull just wanted some water.

"R-right. So, one house special and a water." 

"Yep."

The waiter walked away, almost running in his attempt to get away from the strange toddlers. Banging his head on the table, Skull pouted. "The Great Skull-sama doesn't want to join a Famiglia!"

Fon stayed silent, ignoring the whining baby. They waited in silence for their food to come. 

"Skull, what did you see? Your _area_ , I mean." The abrupt question interrupted the rare silence. Skull desperately tried to keep his smile. His fake smile, a strained one that Skull _knew_ Fon would immediately be able to see through if he didn't wear his make-up--his protection against the world, the people who wanted to see him _react_. He wanted to... _do something._ Anything but answer that question.

Skull repressed all of his natural instincts-the ones telling him to fight, scream, run-and answered with an obviously fake laugh, "HAHAHAHA! The Great Skull-sama's area was way different than yours!"

" _No_ ," Fon said firmly, with a challenge threaded in his words, " _what was your area, Skull._ " Fon stubbornly stuck to the question, his eyes flashing and face hidden behind his sleeve.

"It doesn't matter." Skull insisted. Just as Fon was opening his mouth to argue again, the waiter came.

"H-here's your food. You can c-call me if you need anything." The waiter sweated nervously.

With a nod in response, the waiter retreated. The silence turned into a tension as Fon ate a few bites of his food and pushed it away. Skull was nursing his glass of water.

"Very well. But, I _will_ find out. And you _will_ join a Famiglia."

"Not over my dead body, Fon."

* * *

After figuring out where they were, Skull followed Fon. Skull found something very reassuring about Fon. His intuition said that later, he would both regret it, but now, Skull wanted to forget what had happened to him. Being turned into a baby wasn't the best at some times.

But soon, Skull found himself a companion in Fon. Due to his Cloud nature, Skull would disappear for a bit before coming back. But Fon was a constant in his life, always there with his trademark smile on his face.

Comforting.

"Hey Fon!"

"Skull," Fon acknowledged with a nod.

The two babies sat in chairs that seemed to dwarf them. Skull chatter on about his day, with Fon who was patiently listening while reading a book. They were at Fon's apartment, the one that he rented to stay at in order to complete one of the hits the Triad to him to do.

"The Great Skull-sama was going through one of the stunts, and nearly fell! This stupid baby body! The Great Skull-sama's still not used to it. However, it was good for the stunt, a ton of people were freaked out by the near-fall! It was funny to-"

The purple-haired baby was cut off by Fon, who cut in with an unusual amount of forcefulness. "Who are you?"

"What?" Skull laughs, eyes closed and smiling wide.

"Do not play dumb with me Skull. I have asked around, and _no one_ knows a kid named Skull De Mort. One year before the curse, you didn't exist. It was only after a traveling circus needed help that you 'existed'. You rose in the world to become the _'Greatest Stuntman in the World'_. You are not who you say you are. Now, who exactly are you?" His words were accusative and they were flung toward Skull with a sharpness that made him ache inside. Something that weep, that broke, just a bit more.

"I am the Great Skull-sama! The Man who is hated by the Grim Reaper himself! That is who the Great Skull-sama is and that is all he will be." 

There was an air of finality around his words, one that made Fon unconsciously shut his mouth. "Skull, do you want a cupcake?" Fon said, changing the subject, gesturing to the box on the table next to him.

Cheerfully, Skull says, "Yes!"

Fon seems to smile at the 180 that Skull's attitude did. He calmly opened the box and picked a cupcake to give to Skull. "It's an orange cupcake. I bought them at a cafe that was near my target's flat."

It was a cupcake with orange frosting with a smattering of white sprinkles on it. Fon carefully passed it over to Skull. He was eagerly bouncing in his seat for the cupcake. 

Skull watched the cupcake with the warning bells in the back of his head going off. _Tampered with._ What? It's impossible to get that past Fon...but if he was the one to...

Hiding a frown that he knew was about to escape, he mourned for a quick second. Once he got the cupcake, he took a deep breath to solidify the smile on his face and took a big bite out of the cupcake.

His body froze up for a second, paralyzed. "Fon, where did you get these cupcakes again?"

Hiding his face behind his sleeve, Fon said, "I need to know. Who are you?"

Fon, oh Fon. After all the Arcobaleno were turned into babies, everyone had some problems. Skull knows, the bruises that covered his skin underneath his motorcycle suit never went away, a part of him— _Percy_ —at a young age had. 

And Fon, he had control problems, he had to control every part of a situation. He _needed_ to know. His 'Eye of the Storm'? It came from his control, his need to understand. It was the Storm underneath, the raging part that wanted to destroy. And his fear, his worry that one day, that only the Raging Storm would control him.

Skull only smirked at him, then raised his hand to take another bite of the cupcake. "The Great Skull-sama was asking to get the name of the cafe, not a random interrogation session."

Fon only watched as Skull ate the rest of the cupcake, staying silent. He didn't move as Skull said his goodbye and left his apartment.

It was only hours after, that Fon let out a long, shuttering sigh. "I got ahead of myself again." he murmured.

\-----

In his air balloon, Skull sat, hugging his knees. With teary eyes, he watched the clouds as the aircraft flew.

_Why is it that every time that I find a friend, a person to depend on, that they turn away?_

Skull repeated to himself the words he had told himself thousands of times, the times when he was about to let go, "It was not meant to be. It was not meant to be." 

Not letting the tear trickle down his face, he repeated it one last time, "It was not meant to be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry! This was so hard! It was a struggle doing this chapter and I swear, I deleted the same amount of words that I wrote! 
> 
> Now, to explain things: Verde placed them into a machine that showed their 'home'/safest place when they were younger.
> 
> -The cupcake was poisoned. The reason the cupcake that was laced with a truth serum and a paralyzing agent didn't work on Skull was that Percy had fought a lot of monsters, it's reasonable to think that he built up a really, really strong immunity to poisons- or things like poisons.
> 
> -Okay, when the Arcbaleno were changed to babies, they were reverted, so at that age, Percy was getting abused by Smelly-Gabe and had bruises. Plus,(I made) Fon was a controlling baby when he was younger, this only brings out the 'bad'. Reborn would be more possessive, Viper is obviously more of a money hog, Lal is violence/physical and Colonelle is less caring, lastly, Luce is not babified so she wouldn't have that effect. (You know she birthed Aria, it's impossible in a child form so I'm changing it up a bit.)


	9. Chapter 9

Skull didn't know how long it had been. Years had passed, and he just...couldn't go with the time flow. His memories were a blur, never stopping at any point.

Luce had died. Aria had died. Yuni, Aria's daughter, was the Sky Arcobaleno. 

But, he didn't show up at any of the Sky's funerals. Not after all the stuff they had put Skull through. Not after Aria had also started spewing the 'greater good' crap as well. He hasn't met with Yuni yet, too afraid that she would also start preaching about the 'greater good'.

He had signed on with the Carcassa Famiglia, hadn't he? Yes, he had. Somewhere in his memory, the thought of the Carcassa Famiglia rang a bell. 

Sifting through his memories, he found that he had indeed signed on with the Carcassa Famiglia. Reborn had introduced him to the boss and somehow, somewhere in his blurry memory, he had forced Skull to sign the contract.

Well, Fon was right, he did finally sign a contract with a Famiglia. Not one that the other Arcobaleno really liked, as it was one of the topics they complained about during the annual meetings. But hey, Reborn was the one who chose the Famiglia and Skull wasn't thinking straight.

There was little to no contact with the others outside of their Arcobaleno duties. But that was fine with him. Due to his intuition, he was able to be there for the others if they ever needed anything.

But, as the Carcassa Famiglia's strategist, he had to 'obey' them to an extent. So, when they started ordering him to invade Mafia Land, well, he had to 'obey'. 

Skull wasn't a strategist for nothing. If there was anything that life had taught him, it was that plans would rarely go as planned. So, he was able to plan for the smallest of things, making his plans work. Sometimes things did not go as planned, but his plans always got the job done.

Of course, the rest of the Arcobaleno never noticed. The obvious fact always seemed to be ignored. But it was just fine, it suited his needs. Well, his need to stay unnoticed.

So, when he was ordered to invade Mafia Land again, he immediately started scheming about how to turn things in his favor. Every year, he was ordered to invade Colonnello's little island. 

So, Skull had started using it as a training practice for the Carcassa's minions. In the beginning he would only allow them to invade to an extent. Every year he increased the area they were allowed to invade. They did improve, by a lot. It was thought of as a game now.

The whole plan was also a good way to sniff out any spies. To the senior members of the Carcassa, it was a fun little training excursion that allowed them to remove the spies at the same time.

Standing at the top point of the deck, Skull noticed the short glow of his pacifier. Well, he could just ignore it. Yeah, with his helmet on, _obviously_ , he wasn't able to see it, of course.

He didn't flinch as the cannons rang out behind him. Colonnello's rifle could easily take the whole fleet out, so Skull had brought the ships that were on the edge of collapse. It was hard to get rid of such large and outdated ships, this would just kill two birds with one stone. The training trip and getting rid of the ships.

Skull watched as they steadily approached the island that was getting shot at by the ships' cannons. Screams pierced the otherwise calm sky as buildings blew up. 

Heh, Colonnello would suffer at the hands of paperwork.

This place was under the protection of Colonnello, so it wouldn't be long till the small man would come and drive them off.

* * *

People were rushing around as one voice rang out above the others, "Skull-sama, we've arrived at the shore!"

Skull sighed behind his helmet and dramatically raised a hand. "Commence landing! Defeat all enemies within one hour and seize the island!"

The senior members secretly smirked behind their masks. They knew what to do. 

At the baby's order, a door opened in the side of the large ship and out rushed the newbie Carcassa members. They trekked out, the senior members supporting the rear.

Skull watched as people slowly made their way out. He made a slight hand movement to the last person who was walking out. Understanding the hand movement, the person jerkily nodded.

With nobody in the ship now, Skull stood up. He walked around till he was nearing the door that lead to the ocean. Standing on the platform, he whistled. At the sound of his New-York-taxi-driver-whistle, the ocean started stirring. 

From the now choppy waves, emerged a red octopus that had a metal muzzle, ignoring the fact that octopus didn't have mouths in that...area. Around the octopus's tentacles was metal armor.

"Come, Oodako, we need to go," he said gently.

The stubborn octopus narrowed his eyes at the baby. _I don't wanna to go! Mafia Land's beaches are really nice!_

"We'll come back later," Skull coaxed, "I just have to invade Mafia Land. Then we can sneak in later and you can go play at the beach."

 _Fine._ The octopus grumpily said.

Skull hopped down from the platform, onto the beach, being careful not to touch the water, even with its siren's call. His _father_ would be able to locate him, and after a certain experience, he was sure that any contact with his father wasn't a good thing.

Oodako crawled onto the beach and patiently stayed still as Skull looped the nearly invisible thread on the little loops on the octopus' armor.

Skull sighed. Time for the charade. "C'mon Oodako, we have an island to invade. Colonnello is just going to _love_ the amount of paperwork we're about to give him."

* * *

Out of the forest, the newbie members of the Carcassa Famiglia charged forward. Seeing them run, the older members who were there to supervise started snickering at their brash actions.

"Irresponsible little brats." One muttered.

"Totally. Have you noticed that one of the newbies—Bela, I think her name is—'accidentally' got hurt and had to 'call' her friends about it. She's the one over there." One of the seniors say, pointing in the general direction of the Mafia Land's symbol, the Mafia Castle.

The other people next to the person who was analyzing the newbies nodded. They all chipped in their individual comments about the spy that managed to slip into their ranks.

"She's the first one to agree when someone mentions the idea that the Carcassa Famiglia might be evil."

"So true. Why do people always spread these rumors about us?"

"The Administration branch has been complaining about someone who's broken in and did...something. Well, they didn't know what. Just that someone broke in and messed with their system, but they can't pinpoint exactly how the person did it."

"Ah! Bela is good with computers, isn't she?"

"Yeah, that's why she got recruited, idiot."

"Dang, the quality of spies are getting lower if she's this obvious."

"Pff, you _want_ someone to infiltrate us?"

"What will you do about it, Skull-sama?" The question was addressed to the silent, motorcycle-helmet wearing baby that stood perched on a tree branch. At the sound of the baby's name the group immediately quieted down, waiting for their cues.

The baby audibly sighed. "We'll do the same show. Just make sure to get out of the way when I control Oodako. I'll also 'accidentally' throw Bela as well. _Accidentally,_ of course."

(This got a lot of laughs because humans are a bunch of animals who derive amusement from watching others in pain. #fact)

Skull hopped down from his tree branch. He said dramatically, "All right, get ready everyone. You're about to see the show of the century." 

He waited in anticipation for the play to start as he saw the newbies get blasted by dynamite. They laid motionless on the ground. 

_Only one person uses such an obvious weapon and still has a reputation for it._

_Smoking' Bomb Hayato._

_Huh, I heard he was now under the soon-to-be Vongola Tenth. When the right hand man is here, the boss is never far away. Wonder what they're doing here. Ah, right, Reborn is training the Tenth. Oh, that boy will be going through hell. Man, now I have to act for Reborn._

A silver-haired teen stood next to a frantic-looking fluffy haired brunet along with a taller, chill looking black-haired teenager. With the simply overwhelming amount of Sky flames bottled up in the brunet, it was clear that the teen was _someone._

But, the same brunet with the overwhelming amount of flames was running in circles, panicking. His amount of Sky flames were almost equal to Luce's. 

Skull got ready for the play that was going to happen. Perhaps the other Arcobaleno never noticed, but seriously, having every single encounter go the same way wasn't suspicious?

Oh, well. Here we go again.

The Carcassa newbies that weren't blasted away previously were getting pushed back by the other mafioso. The newbies ran back to the area Skull and the others were at. Mentally tsking, Skull controlled Oodako to fling away the mafioso pursuing them. Even as newbies, they should've known not to lead enemies back to the others.

The mafioso were flung back as the trees fell, the trunk looking almost mutilated. The small crowd that followed the retreating Carcassa Famiglia stopped, shocked at the strange occurrence that just happened.

Skull stood in front of the others, with the fallen trees near, with his helmet on. He watched as one of the men explained who exactly Skull was to the fluffy brunet. Even with the knowledge revealed to the teenagers, the silver-haired one brashly attacked Skull.

Skull sighed. Was the kid even listening? He was one of the seven strongest babies. If the title was just for show, then he wouldn't still be alive. The audacity of youth now-a-days.

As the dynamite came closer, for fun, Skull let the dynamite barely touch him before controlling Oodako to protect him. Oodako's tentacles shot out, forming an X as the dynamite was flung away and exploded harmlessly.

The brunet ever-so-smartly pointed out the giant octopus that appeared when the dust cloud settled. "There's something behind him! An octopus?!"

The other larger man again explained the octopus to the future-boss. "I've heard rumors that Skull controls a giant octopus." He still stared at Oodako with bewilderment.

The brunet screeched, "No way!"

With a gesture of his hand, Skull watched as a tentacle picked up a group of the opposing mafioso and flung them far away. They certainly didn't notice as another tentacle also sneaked out to grab a certain person who was lying on the ground motionlessly. Bela and the other mafioso were flung away mercilessly.

The black-haired boy observed out loud, in a total EUREKA! moment, " The octopus's actions are linked to the baby's finger movements! Amazing! How's he doing it?"

The brunet turned back to scold his friend, "This isn't the time to be impressed!"

Making a weird movement that made Skull look like he was attempting to tickle someone, he said, "Well? Who's next?"

With the movement of his wiggling hand, the tentacles of the octopus wriggled as well. Decidedly unflattering, but necessary.

A squeaky voice interrupted his evil montaging. "What? You haven't eaten that octopus yet? It's probably pretty tasty."

 _Oh-what-a-surprise! Do you actually think that you're sneaky? It's not at_ all _like your flames are basically broadcasting where you are!_

Skull's head turned to where Reborn sat on the very same branch that Skull had sat on previously. The fedora-wearing-baby jumped down onto the ground in front of the fluffy brunet.

Upon seeing the baby, the fluffy haired teen called out in both relief and irritation. "Reborn! You finally woke up? We're in a lot of trouble here."

Before the brunet could go on to what looked to be the long start of a scolding and a relieved thank you, Skull interrupted. "Why is Reborn-senpai here?"

Looking shocked, the brunet seemed to think. In front of the brunet was Reborn, who was causally addressing Skull. Starting off with his signature hello, he said, "Ciaossu. It's been a while, Skull. Didn't you notice your pacifier glowing?"

Skull looked down to see his pacifier glowing, like he knew it was, and answered with a grunt.

Reborn carried on, his poker face securely set on his face. "Since we're here and all, I'll buy you a drink. To go with some octopus sashimi."

 _Say your lines Skull._ "D-Don't be ridiculous!"Skull blustered, "I'm acting under orders from the boss of the Carcassa Famiglia! You're an enemy I must defeat!"

 _Reborn's Lackey line._ "You're always someone else's lackey," Reborn said in that mockingly baby voice.

 _The accusing line._ "You're the one who made me his lackey! But don't underestimate me!"

At the end of the line, his finger was pointing accusingly at Reborn. He slightly bent it as Oodako used that as the signal to scoop up the hitman. Even as the baby was tangled up in Oodako's tentacle, he wasn't flustered. 

"Ah, Reborn!" The brunet, Reborn's student, was too naive. Why was the boy worried?

Calmly, Reborn held out his hand which Leon jumped into, transforming into a green and black gun. He pointed it at Skull and shot two bullets. The first one was blocked by the octopus while the second one hit Skull's left hand.

Holding his hand, Skull said, "You're a quick draw...But I only need one arm!"

With that, and blatantly ignoring the weird feeling in his hand, he used his right hand to make the squeezing motion, watching as Oodako used the cue to squeeze the small hitman. 

He didn't even need his intuition to tell him that the shot would have some _undesired consequences._ Well, even if he didn't need his intuition telling him, it still told him in the end.

_Wait for it..._

"Reborn!" the brunet called out again, worriedly. Obviously, he didn't get the memo that Reborn was the _Greatest Hitman in the World_ , as Reborn so often boasted. However, it was common knowledge that Skull was the bullied Arcobaleno, the weakest. So, nothing would happen to Reborn.

Even if the oh-so-great-Reborn himself didn't realize what a performance the whole thing was, it didn't matter. Skull came to the island for a training trip, and a training trip was what the newbies were gonna to get in the end.

Behind the brunet, like good right and left hand men, the teenagers echoed the future-boss' words. 

"This is bad." _Please, as if there would be any harm to Reborn._

"Kid!" _Kid? How delusional._

The gun slipped out of Reborn's hand as Skull made a pinching motion. Mentally, Skull scoffed. _As if that could happen without Reborn letting it happen. Skull once saw Reborn effortlessly pull his gun away from a man who was twice the size of him._

However, the show had to go on. "Well? I'm no longer the Skull I used to be. Die, Reborn!"

Skull's fingers finally completed their pinching motion, yet Oodako didn't move. _As expected._

The octopus stared, confused, at Skull. The creature didn't move. Taking advantage of the octopus' motionless body, Reborn slipped through the tentacle that held him and stood on the tentacle that held him captive. 

Skull turned around to face Oodako, fake-angry. "What are you doing? Why won't you move?"

"He's hesitating...because he's never seen your left hand like that before."

Looking down to his left hand, Skull saw that it was enlarged. _Of course I knew, you idiot. If I didn't know, then I never would've been able to keep standing!_

"What is this?!"

The brunet watched on in relief. "I see! He fired a Fist Shot. The octopus can't move 'cause he doesn't understand his instructions." _No kidding. Wow, you'd think that everyone would immediately get the fact that Reborn was the Greatest. Being the Greatest is never just being good at your field._

_But anyways, what the hell is even a fist shot? What is with these names?_

He turned his attention back to Reborn as the fedora-wearing-hitman said, "Now it's my turn."

The baby leapt down from Oodako's tentacle and hit Skull right on his head, which was protected by his helmet. Skull flew back from the force of the hit, slamming against a tree with a thud. He ignored the horrified whisper from the brunet, "Reborn's strong."

Sliding down the trunk from where he had been hit, Skull groaned, "Damn it. In that case I'll order the fleet to bombard the castle." _Like any good strategist worth their salt would speak their plan out loud._

"That's impossible. Colonnello's probably woken up by now."

"What? Colonnello-senpai's here too?!"

For a second, Skull waited. Sure enough, a muffled voice came on from the small earpiece he was wearing to complete this act. 

"Skull-sama, all ships have been sunk!"

Perfect. A great performance. Skull could hear the non-existent audience give a standing ovation. But, this was real life, so the show had to go on.

Reborn said, oblivious to Skull's drifting mind, "Colonnello's rifle has spoken loud and clear."

The brunet only looked startled. "So he's ridiculously strong too? Maybe you should've done that in the first place, instead of sleeping!"

Reborn faced his student. "Who cares? You weren't fighting anyway."

In true Reborn fashion, he turned a mind game on his student. Skull watched as the brunet went from questioning Reborn's actions to looking as if he's come to a mind breaking conclusion.

It seemed like the fluffy-haired teen's thoughts were proven wrong when—also in true Reborn fashion—Reborn said, "I personally lay the smackdown on my lackeys."

 _Right on time. Now it was time for Skull's final line._ "Stop!"

The fluffy brunet's face fell into a disbelieving one as Reborn hammered the final nail in the casket. 

* * *

Skull was sunbathing under an umbrella, with his trademark motorcycle suit on, at Mafia Land's beach. He was watching as Oodako played in the sand, not as large as he was yesterday.

Colonnello didn’t know that they were there. It was a win-win, not having to rent out the beaches and the other Arcobaleno not knowing they were there.

Sipping on a coconut, he sighed as he heard a loud screech that was from a certain fluffy-haired brunet. "I DON'T WANT THAT!"

Man, kids were such a pain. Especially Skies.

Oh well, the kid was Reborn's problem, not his.

Sipping on the coconut near the beach with its siren's call, Skull only had one thought.

_Today's a good day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon!!!


	10. Chapter 10

Today was going to be painful.

Skull didn't know how, or why, but _today was going to hurt. Painfully._

And in more ways than one. Why does intuition always have to deliver the bad news?

He didn't really want to get up. But he had to, it was noon and his stomach and bladder were demanding that he get out of bed.

Groaning, Skull pushed himself up. Hopping out of the bed, he nearly stumbled as he landed. He looked around, seeing if there was anyone who had witnessed his embarrassing stumble.

Wait, there was nobody there. 

Ignoring the painful silence of the wide room, he went over to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

After waking up Oodako—who knew octopi slept for so long?—Skull skipped lunch, much to the distress of his growling stomach.

But he just didn't feel like eating. Yeah, he felt his stomach grumble along with the ache of not eating anything, but eating was something he really didn't want to do. 

Oh well, he'd get something later. 

Before leaving, he grabbed his helmet that was almost innocently hanging besides the doorway. And when Skull looks at it, he _knows_ that he'll need it. Not to ride on his motorcycle—which he can't and didn't have due to his small size—but as a shield against the world.

Walking out of his airship with Oodako wrapped around his arm, Skull once again stumbled while he was walking out. On absolutely nothing.

"Man, what is with me today?" he mumbled.

He continued on, drifting around to wherever his flames and intuition said to go. He walked around the town he was at. Something about it just seemed _familiar_. 

It was one of those times where Skull 'woke up', from his drifting haze and he didn't know where he was, what he had done when he 'blacked out' and how long he 'blacked out'. Though, one way or another, he eventually found out what he had done. His signing on with the Caracassa Famiglia was a _great_ example of his 'black outs'.

Soon enough, his intuition led him to a McDonald. A very familiar looking McDonald's. _Conspiracy. I totally call it._

Well, he _is_ hungry. Pushing the door open, Skull walks in. He doesn't stop even as he spots a black haired _teen—man, he's a man now—_ in line at the cash register.

He doesn't acknowledge him. He doesn't acknowledge the _man_ that was dressed in all black with a sword on his belt that the people around then can't seem to see. Does not acknowledge the stupidly orange shirt that says a certain _Camp_. Does not acknowledge the beaded necklace that has many, many beads.

_Does not acknowledge the small voice in his head that cheers. That cheers for this person for being able to **survive** for so long._

His walk does _not_ falter. Not when he is _Skull, the Cloud Arcobaleno._ That is all _Skull_ is, and all he will ever be. Nobody more, nobody less.

So when the _boy—man, he's a man now! Why am I calling him a boy? Dang it!—_ turns around, mouth gaping and eyes blown wide open with a realization and a suspicious mix of tears and anger and sadness and—

The _man_ does not spot Skull immediately. Even as the cashier was impatiently waiting for the _man_ to tell the high-school student his order. Skull waited behind the _man_.

And the _man_ looks down.

And when the _man_ looks down, slowly, apprehensively, almost like he was expecting to find a dead body.

He sees Skull.

In his _chibifiedbabyCloudArcobaleno body._

 _Which has a purple motorcycle suit that matches with his purple hair which no one can see due to his helmet. With his beloved motorcycle helmet_ on _to hide himself from the world._

_With his only friend, an octopus, curled around his arm because he's too afraid to let his friend go. Afraid that the octopus would leave._

_Like everybody else in his life._

_And that was Skull, the Cloud Arcobaleno._

* * *

Skull was munching on fries in the silence as the _man_ before him was eating his burger. They were eating outside on the patio area of the McDonald's. The _man_ was sending him sharp accusing glares in-between the bites of his burger.

It was a concerning scene, where many people wanted to grab the baby and run, if not for the terrifying man. The baby was eating with his helmet barely pushed up, so that he could eat with his _helmet_ on. His shield against the world.

As Skull's small hand snuck out to grab another fry, the other person before him suddenly burst out saying, "Why, Percy? Why did you suddenly leave us?" He punctuated his statement by slamming his hands on the innocent table.

"You-you-you just left!"

Skull mechanically munched on one last fry before he answered that very, very offending question. His eyes flashed a glowing electric purple, and if one looked deep enough, a small glint of hidden orange. Questions would've been raised if not for the helmet he was wearing. 

"My apologies, I don't know anybody by the name Percy. I am the Great Skull-sama."

The _man_ —Nico—scowled. "Stop trying to play around," Nico said harshly. "I know it's you. Although your soul feels _weird_ , it's you. You left _all_ of us behind, Percy." 

Skull _—Percy—_ closed his eyes, then opened them again, the glow disappeared, and his eyes went back to a deep wine color. 

His words came out muffled by the helmet, and already quiet from a person who had been disappointed by the world. "I was banished, Nico."

"What?" Came the half-angry and half-confused question. "What are you talking about? They told us that you _ran_. Like a _coward_."

Percy angrily laughed. "I grew too powerful. And guess how that ended. Banishment from the Greek and Roman world."

His words grew sharper. "But I suppose you heard the rumors? Annabeth and Piper certainly made sure everyone knew." Nico flinched, almost instant recognition of the said rumors.

Still wary, Nico asked, "How do I know that you're not lying?" 

" _You think_ that I'd _willingly_ run away from the last place Hazel, Frank, and Leo would be?"

"Oh," Nico slumped over, running his finger through his hair tiredly. He himself knows how closely the four were. The tension of before was gone, only a bone-deep weariness present. Most likely a tic, his hands ran through his hair, pulling at the strands.

Percy's eyes caught a glint of a ring that didn't match the rest of the death themed rings on the half-blood's fingers in between the silver rings and black hair. It shone gold, something that was rather uncharacteristic of him.

"Wait...did _Will_ propose? _I_ missed _that!_ " Percy shrieked, his squeaky baby voice nearly hitting Tsuna Pitch. He was pointing at the ring that Nico was fidgeting with.

A shiny ring, sitting almost tauntingly on _Nico's ring finger._

Nico got married.

Nico. 

Got. 

Married.

Nico froze. His face dropped. The air around him got even darker. Coming down from his high— _'cause Nico got married!—_ Percy noticed that the aforementioned person seemed to be...

"...He didn't make it. A quest. We had already gotten married. He was 21. Dad at least promised that he would get V.I.P. treatment. He's now waiting for me in Elysium..." Nico trailed off, grief evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry."

The silence got more oppressive in its gloom. 

"So, what happened at Camp while I've been... _gone_." Percy asked, trying to change the topic.

Taking the obvious bait, Nico regaled Percy with tales of what had happened during his banishment.

* * *

They had moved somewhere else during their talk, and where at a park, the mist helpfully covering the long-overdue conversation. Noticeably, Percy never spoke up about what had happened to him.

With the setting sun shining on their faces, Percy asked the one question about something that made his intuition ring. And his intuition kept on ringing even when it wasn't mentioned.

"Hey Nico? What do you mean when you said my soul felt _weird?_ "

Nico looked uncomfortable. "It's," he said as he struggled to describe it, "just too strong. I mean, your soul has that soul fire thing that some people awake. You know that right?"

After getting a nod in response, Nico continued to try to describe what was happening with Percy's soul. "Your pacifier—why are you even wearing a pacifier anyway?—is for some reason sucking your purple soul fire out. And your orange soul fire is..burning _you_. It's hungering for something, as if it... _Oh, I don't know!_ " Nico said exasperated, throwing his hands in the air.

His suspicions were confirmed. Percy stayed quiet. 

Nico finally breached the topic of Percy himself. "Hey. Percy, why are you like that? I mean, at the beginning, you even told me to call you Skull. You even sounded like Leo while doing it." He said, laughing a bit.

"Just some stuff happening, ya know. I have to go back now. But Nico, if you or Leo _ever_ need anything. Find me."

The baby huffed, and after a pause admitted, "My fatal flaw is loyalty. I hate to admit it, but even after all of _this,_ if you ever need anything, I'll go through Tartarus and back to do it."

In the grim silence, neither of the two acknowledged the truth in that statement.

The baby hopped off the bench and stumbled from the jump. But he walked off. And there was a change immediately. From _Percy_ to _Skull_.

So Nico stayed at the bench watching the baby with an octopus wrapped around his arm walk off.

"Ahh," he laughed brokenly, realizing something, "he never answered my question, did he?"

* * *

Skull was sitting in his airship, at the room where he could watch the clouds as they drifted. Now, it was night, and he was watching as they blocked the moon.

Nico was still alive, Leo had cheated death, Jason had died, Will had died. And they were older. Skull didn't miss the stress that lined Nico's face. How Nico was conformable in his skin. 

"Hah, my soul's _weird_." Skull huffed out a sad laugh.

He knew what was happening. The answer he got was only confirmation. The blackouts that were steadily getting longer. How his only territory was Oodako. 

He was utterly sad.

As a _Cloudy-Sky_ he was a territorial creature. When he didn't have anyone else in his _home_ other than an octopus meant severe trust issues.

Skull knew he was basically going crazy. Skies _needed_ elements. Most, once Active, started courting to those around them.

But Skull, he could feel his broken and frayed bonds from when he tried reaching out. And was disappointed.

And a Sky as strong as Skull, he could feel the flames around him. But he couldn't Harmonize with them. He was a _Cloudy-Sky_ , he needed a territory--people to protect. So, without them, he was driving himself insane. 

His body was finally feeling the effects of not having any elements. Skull couldn't bring himself to reveal himself as a Sky. 

After all this time, convincing himself that he didn't need Elements was very, very unsuccessful.

Skull was so tired. He remembered his original dream. How naive. Wanting a family and a place where he could just be himself, without all of the Gods and Goddesses scheming.

But his hopes were destroyed so, so, so many times. 

And at the very, very least Skull wanted— _Percy wanted—_ to have a _free_ life with people that he could _at the very, very, very least trust_.

Was that so hard to ask for?

So while he was watching the clouds cover the moon, he resolved himself to _dying_. 

Not to monsters, or betrayers, or angry-fedora-wearing hitmen, but to himself. And his stubborn desire to not have any elements. 

_Besides, who ever needed Elements?_

* * *

Skull looked over to the world map that was posted on the other side of the room. Closing his eyes, he threw the dart in his small hand. After hearing a small thud, Skull opened his eyes.

_Namimori, Japan._

Next stop, Namimori, Japan, then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This isn't very long. Sorry, my inspiration kinda ran out 3/4's of the way through it and now I had to place some pieces in a weird place. Oh well.
> 
> 'Kay! Explain: The 'blackouts' that Skull had is because he doesn't have elements. As a Sky, I thought, Harmonization was important. SOOooooo... plot. O.o


	11. Chapter 11

Skull was gonna have to quit. Now that was a novel idea. Quitting. By his own will. Wow.

If he was to move to Namimori, then he would have to quit. Now, Skull was planning an over-the-top way to quit. He was going to milk this for all it was worth.

There were going to be explosions (harmless, of course), glitter, and lots and lots of chaos. It was going to be great! 

"Hey, Ren, make sure that all the members are out doing missions for the next two weeks. Or they could also quit. If they want to get targeted as well, I suppose they could stay. I don't know why they would want to do that though." Skull was crouched over a paper that held his plans.

In the command room, Ren raised an eyebrow and pushed his spinning chair over to the table where Skull sat. The twenty-year-old was most confident in front of his beloved computers. Outside of that, he was a nervous wreck.

"Really boss?" he said as he saw the baby on the table. There were crayons scattered around the baby-boss. 

With an unimpressed look, Ren surveyed the paper, the plan written by colorful crayons. As his eyes got further down the paper, his face turned an interesting assortment of colors. "Wow, yeah, we'll definitely want to get out before _this_ happens." 

Skull proudly smirked. "Yep! Though, do you know where to get any alligators?"

Ren looked at Skull warily. "Wait... Are you planning to do _that_?"

"Yeah," Skull's smirk got wider, "it's gonna be epic."

Ren shuddered. Nope, he was not gonna stick around for that.

A boy ran in, urgently calling, "Skull-sama! Lana got herself hurt!"

Both Skull and Ren sighed. It was always the new recruits. They were such a handful. "Alright, alright, I'm coming." Skull jumped off the table. The relieved messenger ran, immediately taking off, the baby-man following.

* * *

"I swear, you lot are such a handful. Recruits,” Skull grumbled, shaking his head. "I even had to get certified as a doctor." 

The girl goggled. "Wait, really?" 

Skull hovered above her injured leg, small hands quickly working to clean and bandage the wound. 

"Yep," he grunted, "I've had a ton of time on my hands, so I don't know how many degrees I've gotten now. I thought that becoming a certified doctor would burn some time, especially as it seems that _some people_ ," he said while glaring at the trainee, " _alway seem to get hurt._ " 

Of course, his words were hypocritical. But she didn't need to know that. Just thinking about the quests he went on made him question his sanity at times. Yeah, it always seemed to end with him injured.

Tying the final knot, Skull straightened up. "Well, don't do anything strenuous on your leg."

Lana smiled. Skull turned to the other two worried teens. Giving them a pointed glare, he said, "If I find out that she has in some way put more pressure on her leg then you guys will also find yourself joining her in the infirmary."

The boys winced, and dutifully chorused, "Yes Skull-sama."

Grumbling, Skull walked out of the training room, heading back to the command room. An idea suddenly coming to him, Skull brightened. Rushing to the room, he ran past Ren.

Pressing one of the many buttons, he spoke into a microphone, " _Everybody, meet in the training room. Immediately._ "

Ren raised another eyebrow from where he sat in front of the monitors. "What's the meeting for?"

"I'm gonna announce my retirement."

"Wait, do I still have to go?" Cue Ren's anxiety.

"Yes, Ren." Skull sighed. Skull could practically hear the stuttering mess Ren would become.

* * *

Skull stood above everybody. He watched as they milled around, chatting. 

Seeing everyone arrive (Skull always made an effort to know everybody, they were _his_ , afterall), he let out a loud, ear-piercing New York taxi whistle. 

At the sound, the group snapped into action. Within a few seconds, they lined up like a group of soldiers called to attention. Which, Skull supposed, they were.

"Alright! So! I got news for ya!" Skull pauses. His people watch him carefully, ears open. They knew that he never said anything without a reason.

"The Great Skull-sama is quitting! Woo!"

A pause. Skull could hear the crickets.

"What, nobody saying it with me? Okay, okay. So, you guys can either quit as well, or take a mission away from the Carcassa famiglia. I'm gonna raise hell." He cackled. "It'll be great."

Silence.

They stared. 

So Skull stared back.

...5 seconds ...14 seconds ...36 seconds ...

Lana cracked first. She looked torn between staring disbelievingly and laughing. "What the heck was that?!"

After her shout, the rest of the group started muttering. Someone shouted, "Group talk!"

They circled up. It was an amusing view for Skull, watching them huddle up to talk about their options. 

If it was one thing that Skull had taught, it was loyalty. Now, even the newbies knew that what they did would be all together or not at all.

After arguing amongst themselves for nearly twenty minutes, they turned around. Someone pushed Ren in front of the herd.

Nervously fidgeting, he coughed. "Ahem. R-right, uh, so, we're all gonna quit. And form a new Famiglia. And, uh, we have elected you to be our leader. So yeah. Decision made. Oh, congrats on quitting. 'Cause we're g-gonna follow you."

Skull burst into fake-noisy tears. "Oh my beloved followers! The Great Skull-sama is so overjoyed to see you escaping this place. Let the Great Skull-sama offer my genuine happiness!"

_Leo would be proud. His performance was Oscar worthy. Frank must be rolling in his grave. Hazel must be laughing so hard she started crying._

They started talking about how they would create the new famiglia. After all, even if someone tried to escape the Mafia, they would always be looking over their shoulders. The easiest thing to do is to create their own famiglia, and create their own rules.

Skull didn't particularly care. The title of 'Leader' that they gave him was more for their protection and partly habit. 

He knew he was a good boss, compared to others. Plus, using his title of Cloud Arcobaleno, with the power and prestige that came with it, the title would help them assimilate easier.

* * *

Giggling, Skull ran away from the bright neon yellow building. It was absolutely splattered with tar, feathers, and other things. 

And it was on fire.

Skull had a blast planning the whole prank. Judging from the loud shouting coming from the building, it was a total success.

Running away from the building and running into an alleyway, out of range of inquisitive eyes, Skull apparated away with a loud crack.

Arriving at the coast at the other side of the continent, he watched the waves as he caught his breath. It really wasn't good for him to use his magic as his body was the size of a toddler. It wreaked havoc when he used it too much.

Skull never really controlled the water much, other than some subconscious things he would do, depending on his mood. Or, if he was having an extremely bad dream, he'd 'drown himself' in the bath tub.

Now, standing next to the ocean, he took a deep breath.Feeling his intuition ring, he looked around. _Something was gonna go wrong._

And he was right. Why was he always right about things like this?!

Because, in the few seconds Skull had to take a short break at the beach, _Night flames_ slowly appeared to create a portal.

_The Vindice._

Quickly, Skull ran through his memories to see if he did anything breaking the laws that the Vindice upheld with such cold resolve. Nope, he should be fine.

Finally determined that he did nothing wrong, Skull waited for the Vindice to speak. Well, _he_ certainly didn't know why they were there.

A body took a slow step out of the black hole. Soon, there were three wrapped mummy-like persons in front of the Cloud Arcobaleno. 

If anybody else had witnessed the arrival and appearance of the _people_ , they would have been freaked out by the _pure_ _unnaturalness_ that the Vindice seemed to radiate.

As they silently stood in front of him, an eerie rattling of chains filled the empty beach.

Finally, one of the three decided to speak. **"Skull, holder of the Cloud Arcobaleno Pacifier, will you confirm the fact that you are a magical being?"**

Skull sputtered, "W-wait, you came all this way to see if I'm a magical?"

The same Vindice impassively said, **"Answer the question."**

Skull huffed. "Yes, I'm technically magical. Well, I guess I'm a wizard. Don't have the pointy stick though."

At least they didn't find out that he was a Half-blood. The Wizarding World wasn't very good at hiding themselves. Even if Hecate did bless the wizards, they didn't get the additional ability to see monsters. Well, certain spells could let the wizards see them. They were just lost over time.

Skull snapped back to attention as the Vindice guards turned to him after they had quietly conversed among themselves. As one of them sharply nodded to the others, the Vindice guard stepped forward.

 **"Come with us,"** the mummy ordered.

Before Skull could say anything, chains shot out, surprising him. Within a moment, they circled his body, pulling him into the portal as they stepped in again.

The wind was blowing away the last signs that Skull was there on the empty beach. And a second later, a second too late, a woman ran onto the beach. 

"Damnit!" She swore. "I just missed him!"

* * *

Skull groaned. Blinking, he realized he was in front of a baby wrapped in bandages. 

Skull had seen stranger things, of course. But, when _the Vindice bowed to a fricking baby wearing a fricking top-hat, and addressed it by as 'Lord Bermuda'_ , well don't blame Skull for his disbelief.

"I'm hallucinating. I have to be. This is a dream. When I wake up, there will be no Vindice guards, babies in top-hats, or a guilty-looking person in the corner." Skull scrubbed his face. Yes, this was nothing but his active imagination. He hid his face in his small hands.

Peeking through the cracks of his fingers, he watched as the baby, in a deeper voice than expected, declared, **"** _ **Skull, as you have acknowledged yourself as a magical, we,"** _Skull could hear the gritted teeth _, **"request that you grant us access to the Wizarding World."**_

Skull lets his hands drop. Then he takes his time to groan. After taking the chance to express how fed up he is at the world, he sighs. 

"Yeah... Great. Sure. Hey, can somebody make sure that I'm awake? I'm still not completely sure this isn't a dream." Skull replied flatly. "Well, never mind. Yeah, I go show you the Wizarding World. I won't even question the very, very questionable question of how you even know about it."

The baby silently stares at him for a second before nodding. **" _Lead us to the entrance."_**

* * *

Four hours later, Skull stood in front of the entrance to Diagon Alley. With three Vindice guards and the head-honcho himself. 

It was a hassle-and-a-half trying to get the Vindice guards into something that a wizard would wear. The compromise was that Skull would spell the hoods of their robes to an actual normal looking face, but they'd wear their bandages underneath.

Skull sighed again. He didn't really like going to Diagon Alley for _certain reasons_. In particular, Turning to face the mysterious robed figures, looking all mysterious till you saw the small baby that also had a robe, he asked, "Hey, can you lift me up?"

They stared at him. Skull fought the urge to blush, something that wouldn't even be seen due to the amount of make-up he had on his face.

After hesitating for a second, Jack, Skull found out, reached down to pick him up. Twisting around, Skull counted the bricks. "Higher, just a bit—stop."

Then, he lightly touched the specific brick. Unlike other wizards, Skull was blessed with magic. This made him way more powerful than a regular wizard, merely because after so long, chanting in a dead language just isn't good enough. But, if he had to face any of Hecate's children, then, well, he was _way_ outclassed. 

With the light brush against the brick, Skull released a small pulse of magic. Yanking his hand back, he started tugging at the hands that were holding him. "Put me down."

After the wall opens dramatically, Skull turns to the Vindice. "Alright, so I did what you asked, and got you the thing you needed. Deal is done, by the terms I have two favors on you guys, yeah?"

The hooded baby nodded. **" _Yes, the deal is complete. We shall not break the terms."_**

"Right." And as Skull finishes his answer, he turns to walk away. Now, he had to get back to packing. He already quit, so now he had to do the arduous task of moving.

He really didn't want to know why the Vindice wanted access to the Wizarding World.


	12. Chapter 12

A giant shadow passed above, and a small child looked up. Clutching his ball, he didn't see anything above, only the clouds. 

Once he looked down, he bounced the ball and immediately dismissed the strange shadow into the deepest corners of his mind. After all, basketball is more important than a weird shadow.

Unbeknownst to the people of Namimori, who at times looked up searching for the large shadow that passed them, was an unseen giant airship that they almost immediately forgot about.

And on that airship was a small purple baby. While the outside of the airship was a garish purple with his signature octopus, the inside was a beautiful blue. Decorated with little trinkets he had gotten after traveling, everything was mismatched.

But to the Cloud Arcobaleno, it was home.

No one was allowed on his ship without permission. Much like a regular Cloud, he could claim territory. Once Skull heard about the flame lore about Clouds, he immediately dismissed it. 

Please, they sounded like children of Ares with their penchant for violence. And the invert crap? Whatever.

Skull was sitting on his observation deck, staring at the clouds, his helmet still on. The airship continued on until it was hovering over Kokuyo Land.

And that land was now his. Legally bought and paid for.

After researching Namimori, he found out that there was abandoned land on the outskirts of the town. Rumors claimed that a cloud claimed Namimori so it was better to play it safe.

As the airship hovered over the land, Skull sighed and closed the book that he was reading. It was easier to read and brush up on his Japanese.

* * *

He arrived right on time. _Right_ - _smack_ - _dab_ - _on_ - _time_.

It was hard _not_ to be suspicious in Namimori. Skull had learned too late that the small town was home to a strong Cloud, the future _Vongola_ _Decimo_ , and _Reborn_.

Reborn.

 _Fuck_.

Skull had arrived during the Ring Battles. Of course, this caught his attention, and had him hiding to watch the battles.

Why, why did he have to arrive during the battles that determined the Vongola Decimo? Couldn't have gone at a worse time. After quitting Carcassa, his people were all occupied in establishing themselves. Skull wasn't too worried about them.

He missed the Storm battle, which the _bat-shit insane Prince the Ripper_ against _Smoking' Bomb_ was just experience against smarts.

And a teen against the Varia Commander? How the hell did Squalo lose?

Apparently he had missed the Sun and Lightning battles, but Skull was sure he really didn't want to watch a six-foot man beat up a small baby wearing cow print. 

As the Sun battle was having a simple-minded teen go against the necrophiliac Varia Sun or watching the Lightning battle with a small toddler against the 193 cm—almost 6'4—Varia Lightning. Skull was _sure_ he didn't want to watch them. Yeah, he was sure that he would've blown a fuse at that.

He really wasn't sure how the kids actually _won_ some of the battles.

Don't blame him for having no faith. Plus it's kinda hypocritical for him to think that. For a second, Skull mused over what he was doing at fourteen.

Hiding on the ceiling, Skull peeked below. He was finally present for a battle. And it was a Mist battle. Those were rare.

Seeing Viper _—_ now called Mammon _—_ floating with his signature cloak, was a small memory of the past. _(A small part of his heart ached when he saw Mammon and Reborn. They weren't the same. None of them were. Especially not himself. Not with the parasite called the Arcobaleno curse.)_

And the girl, her name was Chrome?

Walking through the doors, Skull squinted at her. Why the heck did all these people have the weirdest hair? Silver hair, gravity-defying hair, purple hair, white hair, and all of these weird-ass hair styles.

Is it a Mafia thing? Gods know that Skull only had purple hair due to a charm from a goddess. What the heck was with _their_ hair?

Shaking his head, he switched his wandering mind and started actually paying attention to what was happening below him.

Mammon and the female Mist were battling it out. A soft conversation was exchanged between the Namimori group, the Varia just sneered, so confident in their win.

It was actually interesting, the illusions flying back and forth, to Skull they looked see-through. He was a Demi-god, obviously he had some mental defenses.

Images appeared and disappeared.

Shaking his head, he watched as the girl was being pushed back. Mammon was going rather easy on her. Skull had first hand experience in watching the esper fight. 

The area changed dramatically from lava to ice. A long monologue about illusions was said. Skull sighed, why were Mafia members so dramatic?

Chrome eventually collapsed from the illusions being manipulated against her. Her stomach collapsing, she cried out for someone else.

Skull's eyes widened as mist filled the area. A strange laugh filled the room. His intuition had started softly ringing. _He wasn't in any danger and the person who was appearing was only somewhat dangerous._

Skull relaxed.

Mammon arrogantly thought that Chrome was trying to escape. With the appearance of a male version of Chrome, the Namimori groups started chattering about a 'Mukuro Rokudo'.

Skull frowned, the name did sound kinda familiar...

He continued watching, only wondering briefly— _when did I become so cold? When have I changed to the point where I could watch kids put their lives on the line for a bloodied empire? What am I doing?_

It's food for thought. Later though, now he has to watch. 

Watch because there's nothing else he can do.

* * *

And there were pineapples.

...why were there pineapples, you might ask?

Because.

Skull was growing soft. He knew it. Dang it. He could have sworn that he thought he was becoming colder, earlier.

And this was confirmed, people! Swear to God, it was for a good reason. So when Skull started planning out how to break the Pineapple Mist out of Vindice's Water Prison, it really was for a good reason!

Totally.

Man, even he didn't sound convincing to himself.

And curse Skull's soft heart! After watching the Mist Ring Battle, his intuition and everything else had been continuously nagging at him to get the male mist. _(How did the twin Mists even win? He subconsciously knew the answer. He didn't want to acknowledge the answer.)_ Huh, he never did catch the male Mist's name, did he?

Much like Tsunayoshi Sawada, Skull had got the vision of the male mist trapped in Vindice's Water Prison.

The prisoner just floated, chained up. It... honestly wasn't the worst he'd ever seen, but it really was... heart wrenching.

(To be honest, Skull kinda wanted that life. Being fed automatically, and just drifting in water. And _no socialization._ Holy cow, he just got to sleep the day away without doing anything. Nice. Ideas... )

Well, it wasn't just the Mist that Skull was aiming for, there were actually others on his list that he was planning to break out.

But, this led to Skull poring over a book that incidentally had the blueprints to Vindice's prison. And history of Vindice. And information gathered about Vindice. 

He was surrounded by towers of books larger than him. Skull knew that stealing all those books from others would've been worth it! 

In the future—far, far in the future.

(Actually, he didn't know what he was doing. This was more of a back-up plan. Skull did have two favors from Vindice. Everything was just sorta a whim. Just in case.)

Skull grinned as he reached a specific page of the book. Wow, this was gonna be good.

* * *

A bright purple airship that could put flowers to shame sped up to the tops of a mountain. Stopping in front of an icy land, a rope descended and a small baby dropped down.

The baby was as purple as his airship. Which was to say, obnoxiously purple.

The doors were large and oppressive, and if others had seen it they would've been scared shitless. To Skull, this wasn't so bad. After all the crap he's gone through, this wasn't even the scariest. Perhaps it would rank on his list of 'top-ten-places-that-try-to-be-scary-but-fail-miserably'.

He walked up to the heavily barred door, before kicking it open. 

Dramatically.

Immediately, blacks flames appeared in the lobby, a place as dark and drab as it seemed for a prison. A leg came through, followed by a body covered in a long cloak, bandages where skin should've been.

" _What are you doing?_ " A raspy voice came out of one of the figures.

Cheekily, Skull said, "The Great Skull-sama is here to cash in on a favor!" He paused, then continued with, "Just one though."

* * *

" _Are you sure, holder of the Cloud Arcobaleno Pacifier, that you want to use one of your favors for **them**?_"

Skull laughed. "Yep! You even get a little bonus."

Beady eyes peeking from the bandages watched him uneasily. " _...Very well. The terms have been set._ "

* * *

"Kufufufu. Well, well, what does the Cloud Arcobaleno want from us little folk?"

"Shush, well, this was more of a whim, if you really want to know."

"..."


	13. Chapter 13

Mukuro sounded absolutely disgusted, at odds with his playful smile. "Why is your airship so dreadfully _purple_ on the outside yet _blue_ on the inside? Do you have no eye for color coordination? Ugh." 

Skull laughed, the high pitch grating on his ears. "The Great Skull-sama likes purple! It is his favorite color! Purple is the perfect mix of blue and red!" _A mix of blue and red._ Purple.

Mukuro's eyes narrowed at Skull's carefully chosen words. "Fine. Keep your secrets then," he huffed and turned his head away, crossing his arms.

Skull smothered a snicker, choosing to hop past Mukuro and play with Oodako. The small octopus flailed around, now without the armor. The baby cooed at the octopus, laughing as he waved his tentacles at him. There was a peaceful silence in the room, as the baby turned his back to the other.

Mukuro tsked, and inspected the room. The Mist sauntered (because, obviously, he didn't just _walk_ ) around the room.

Poking through the odd mix of objects in the room, he turned to Skull, "Interesting. Do you not feel threatened when I am in your space? You are a Cloud after all."

There was a knowing glint in Skull's eyes. "Why would the Great Skull-sama feel threatened? This is the Great Skull-sama's room. This is the Great Skull-sama's airship," Skull laughed, a light and airy sound, "if anything, you should feel threatened in the Great Skull-sama's presence!" His final words were said with a childish glee, reverting back to his air-headed persona.

"Kufufufu. I'm amazed Arcobaleno. You truly are nothing like a Cloud, just like the rumors." The blue-haired teen idly picked up a glasswork that Skull had acquired from one of the Famiglias that Skull had stolen from. It was a swirling blue sea with small flecks of other colors dotting along the edges. 

The Mist held it up to the light, watching the ray of light splinter and light up the different colored pieces.

Skull dramatically gasped in mock-offense. "Why, of course the Great Skull-sama is like a Cloud! The Great Skull-sama is _the_ _strongest_ Cloud! What silly rumors!"

Mukuro placed the glasswork down and let one finger trail across the intricate lines of the gleaming design, letting a little of his Mist Flame curl around his finger. 

"Whatever you say, Arcobaleno. _Kufufufufu_. _Whatever you say_ ," he murmured.

Skull hopped over to the illusionist. "Ah, that. Does it remind you of something?"

"The murky waters that the Vindice placed me in. One that you called in a favor to free me from. Now, now, surely even you wouldn't do something like this on a whim. What is your purpose, Arcobaleno?" Mukuro's voice was light, unlike how much meaning he packed into his words.

Skull smiled. "Don't worry! The Great Skull-sama is getting something out of this!" He cheerily laughed, already thinking of his plans.

Mukuro froze. "What? Kufufu. Pray tell, what exactly you're getting out of this... deal?"

Skull could see a ferocious light in the Mist's eyes. One that hungered for more information.

The baby danced away. "Nothing but a little back-up plan. Anyways, you shouldn't question the Great Skull-sama! When the Great Skull-sama negotiated to let you go, the Great Skull-sama even gave a little extra for the Vindice."

Skull frowned at the slight mental compulsion to tell the truth.

Instead, he boasted, "The Great Skull-sama is so generous."

Mukuro frowned unhappily, attention partially captivated by the next curious object laying around. "And what was the extra condition?" he urged, the compulsion's urging getting a bit stronger.

"Just something." Skull laughed, a high pitched and squeaky laugh. Taunting the Mist with knowledge of something he knows not.

 _They won't drag him back._ That _, he promises to himself._

_He'll fight Fate and win. He will._

_He will._

_(Won't he?)_

* * *

Chrome whimpered. She really didn't want to fight, but her boss was going to be fighting and she _would_ help him. She hadn't thought that the Cervello would poison her. 

On the floor, she mentally tapped the connection between her and Mukuro-sama. It felt static-y, and was muffled under the pain that the poison had set in. 

She was panting as the phantom heat burned her body. The heat immediately spread from her wrist and up her arm.

Chrome sent her urgency and fear along the channel, praying that this was one of the times where Mukuro-sama was lucid and not unresponsive from the water prison. 

From the last times that she had talked to him, he had been rather distracted, seeming as if he was talking to someone else.

A query was sent from Mukuro-sama's side, trying to find out the situation on her end. With the seconds ticking as the poison spread, Chrome could only send her feelings over the link. Both sides gradually grew more and more frantic.

Her body spasmed as she tried to think through the pain. _No no no no!_ She didn't want to be a burden. But...

She cried out as the pain— _the heat—_ intensified and spread till it felt like her limbs were being burnt off.

" _Mukuro-sama.._. _"_

Another wave of the _white-hot, incinerating, blistering, pain..._

Her vision was whitening along the edges. Black spots seemed to flicker in her sight. 

" _Boss..._ "

* * *

On the outside of Namimori, a purple airship sat on the dusty remains of Kokuyo Land. Inside, there was a comparably different scene than the quiet, abandoned land of the amusement park.

Skull wailed. "Reborn-senpai and Colonello-senpai are there! They're so mean!"

Mukuro's eyes narrowed. "Shut up, _fool_!" he hissed. "Chrome is out there! You better let me out!"

The trident materialized in his hands and he swung it threateningly, his eye changing numbers. His face was twisted in a furious-anger-disgust, highlighted by the bloodlust radiated off of the Mist.

Skull pouted behind his helmet. His intuition dinged and he winced at how anxious the Mist was. _Worried. Worried._

Still, he hopped around as Mukuro took his anger out on him and tried to decapitate the baby with his trident.

"Fine!" Skull frowned. "The Great Skull-sama'll get you to the battlefield. Since you are joining, you will be recognized as the Mist Guardian, along with your precious Chrome. As Sawada's guardian, you _have_ _to_ fight though, so just be warned. Plus, the Great Skull-sama won't reveal himself. If you say or do anything alluding to the fact that the Great Skull-sama had freed you and brought you to the field..." He let the sentence ominously trail off, letting the Mist's active imagination run wild. 

He couldn't be revealed now, it wasn't his time on stage yet. 

Mukuro's grip on his trident tightened, face twisted in an ugly scowl. Then, he slowly nodded.

"Alrighty! Close your eyes for a second! This'll be a wild trip!" With a cheer Skull had previously lacked, the baby jumped on Mukuro's shoulder.

Slapping a piece of Propagated paper over the illusionist's eyes, he exhaled and let his magic pull him and the teen away, using the Mist Arcobaleno Pacifier as a focal point. 

"—the rings you have, would you? If you don't, some very bad things are going to happen to this girl."

The destroyed room appeared, along with Chrome hanging between the Mist Arcobaleno and a bloodthirsty Storm. The genius Storm officer of Varia. Just as they appeared, there were several loud booms that shook the room, from the other battle. 

As a familiar feeling of nausea appeared, Skull disappeared again, returning to the shadows. With a smile on his face, and wishing for some popcorn, the baby watched the show.

He watched as an illusion of mist appeared and Skull chuckled. What a drama queen. Whatever that had been happening before, had stopped, the people shocked into silence.

"Kufufufu. When I told Vongola to take care of my sweet Chrome, _this is not even close to what I meant._ " The honeyed voice echoed out of the mist, along with an indistinct figure that could faintly be seen. 

Barely conscious, Chrome groaned, softly mumbling, "...Mukuro-sama..."

Takeshi and Hayato tensed, even in the presence of their 'ally'. Mammon and Belphegor, the latter shaking with silent shishishi's as Mammon scowled darkly at the mist covering the room.

"Oi! Your body is hanging right there! Why're you playing this game!" Hayato growled, dynamite out and posed to light up. Takeshi had one hand on his sword, a dangerous smile on his face.

As the mist cleared, Mukuro stood near them, supporting his female counterpart, a playful smile on his face.

"The Rain and the Storm. Kufufu, if I hadn't been here, I wonder what your response would've been." There was a frigid look in the Mist's eyes, a cutting displeasure radiating from him. 

His fingers gracefully plugged a stolen ring into Chrome's wristband and her face relaxed. The Varia Mist and Storm stared at the ring before looking to where it was previously, shocked to find it gone.

Mukuro smirked and twirled his trident. Slamming it down on the floor, the floor seemed to rupture and the floorboards broke under Mammon and Belphegor, sharp edges protruding from the ground menacingly. The duo's image flickered and disappeared.

The duo's image flickered and disappeared. Hayato and Takeshi turned around, only now seeing the Mist and Storm at the other side of the gym.

" _You_ ," Mammon hissed, so much displeasure and anger compressed in the one word. "This is _my world._ You shouldn't have any power here. You shouldn't even be here. You're supposed to be in Vendicare." Skull muffled a laugh.

Mukuro looked amused. "Kufufufufu, we all know who has the real power here. And it's not you, _weakling_."

"Shishishi, it seems like this prince will get to bloody his knives tonight." Despite his jovial tone, the grin on Belphegor's face was a tad too big to be a grin. His bandaged hands started his knives' waltz, the blades stretched out behind him.

With the movements of his fingers, the knives moved. They flew at the Mist and his female counterpart, only for them to go straight through, the image of the two disappearing. Another illusion. Skull resisted the urge to lean forward. It was getting good.

(As the backup cameras activated in the gym, there were several shocked silences as the Cervello failed to process the fact that they missed someone (then they missed another one). In the spectator's area both Ken and Chikusa shouted, "Mukuro-san!" Ken made biting remarks as the other pushed his glasses up, silently pleased, with a rare glint in his blank eyes.)

"Kufufufu. As much as I would like to play around with you, I already know how this will end. I was able to take control of your perception before, don't think I can't again." The disembodied voice echoed around. The others whirled around in an attempt to spot the Mists.

Chrome appeared next to Hayato, clutching her trident. A soft apology on her lips, she faced the Varia officers. Bel snarled, teeth still bared in a feral grin.

Mukuro appeared in front of Mammon, holding the Mist ring, inspecting it. A small metal ring of flame-conductive metal. It was almost delicate. He flicked it over to the seething Mist Arcobaleno.

Reflexively, Mammon caught it. As the baby's fist clenched over the ring, he stared down at it. "What?"

Hayato and Takeshi stared. "What?"

"Well? I did tell your Sky that I wouldn't interfere. The only problem is that you messed with my people. I have already warned you about underestimating the younger Sky." The smile on his face was decidedly not nice.

Mammon studied the ring, then sniffed, "This better not be fake."

"Oh? Do you have no confidence in yourself after I messed with your perception before? Well, I guarantee that it's real." The grin on Mukuro's face was almost like Bel's. It was a grin of scenting blood, of weakness.

Mammon made a scoffing noise. Still, his fingers unfolded from the ring and he placed it in his pocket.

"What?!" Hayato shouted. "What are you doing?!"

Chrome shifted. "Mukuro-sama?"

"Sorry Chrome dear, I'll have to refrain from interfering in this little bout. I don't feel up to this." Sounding disappointed, yet looking the exact opposite, Mukuro flickered and disappeared, his slight smile lingering in the air. 

Looking around and leaking out Mist Flames, Chrome solemnly said, "Mukuro-sama is gone."

"Good!" Hayato growled. "That bastard wasn't even helping."

Takeshi laughed. "Maa, we should hurry up. Tsuna is waiting."

In the shadows, Mukuro materialized. Skull swung down, narrowly missing the trident that shot out at the sudden movement.

"Kufufufu. Arcobaleno," the illusionist greeted. The trident was nowhere to be seen. "Announce yourself next time."

Skull shrugged. He was watching Sawada's guardians gang up on the Varia officers. Hayato and Bel were basically evenly matched and Mammon and Chrome was a back-and-forth battle.

With the added assistance of Takeshi, it was rather simple for them to snag the Mist ring and run out of there.

Hopping after them, Skull pulled on the Mist to cloak him, with an extra charm. As they ran to the loud, dangerous light show that was the Varia commander and Sawada Iemitsu's kid Skull followed.

Sitting on one of the ledges at the school windows, his intuition dinged before Mukuro appeared next to him. Skull watched as the Sun met up with the group. 

A very Extreme Sun, that one is.

"So you aren't going to interfere, huh?" Skull's squeaky voice broke the silence.

Mukuro smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling fakely. "I can see how far my dear Chrome has gotten."

"Mmnn." Skull smiled knowingly, not that it could be seen from behind his helmet.

There was a lot of monologuing about Xanxus's past. It was like a soap opera. Skull kinda wished for some popcorn.

So. Much. Drama.

Ice climbed up Xanxus's limbs freezing him. It slowly spread until his face was frozen into an expression of absolute horror. And rage, because the man couldn't _not_ look angry, even if his life depended on it. 

As they approached Tsuna with the rings, the rings lit up near the ice. It was interesting, to say the least. Lots of teenager angst and jumping to conclusions.

In the end, the rings only automatically half-melted Xanxus out. With his mouth freed, he roared, "Start the second plan! Kill them all! Make sure none of these scum survive."

Varia officers stormed the school. Skull watched as Mukuro sent a warning from where he was. The Varia officers were sent flying from a large ball attached to a chain.

Lancia, the strongest man in North Italy, was there to pay a debt.

"Wow. When'd you go and arrange this?" Skull asked a smug Mist next to him.

Mukuro preened. "Kufufufu. I possessed him at one point. There'll always be a link after that. He's too kind, for a famous killer. A small suggestion was all it took."

"Not worried about Chrome?" Skull watched as Chrome's illusion caught Mammon off guard when the baby tried to threaten Sawada's guardians.

Bel dropped his knives, the genius realizing he was outclassed. The rest of the guardians showed up. 

"Vongola will protect her. He's too kind not to." For once, there was a slight frown on Mukuro's face as he studied the scene.

They didn't mention the obvious. Like how this was nothing more than staged. Like how Xanxus was being played. Or that Tsunayoshi was too kind _~~(naive)~~ _to notice.

Because, truly, could a group of barely trained teenagers actually defeat a famous assassin squad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *spreads hands* cannon, you say? what’s that?
> 
> lol this is what you guys get. It all came off of the khr website. the quality isn’t assured.


	14. Chapter 14

Skull tripped. _Again._ Ugh, how irritating. Scowling behind his purple helmet, he continued on his way over to the very much needed purple candies. 

After paying for his candies, he popped one in his mouth, thinking about how he was tripping more often now. Very, very irritating. Still, with the candy swirling in his mouth, his mood improved and he shoved his thoughts away.

 _(The sweetness covered up the sharp, metallic tang of crimson coating his tongue.)_

Making his way over to a seat, he didn't flinch as another person approached him. It was bound to happen. There was a sudden crunch as his teeth cracked the hard candy in smaller pieces.

"You're not doing well, Perce." She stuffed her hands into her hoodie pockets. Black hoodie, discreet, yet expensive.

"Mmnn. Well, I've survived longer than I expected, so I kinda consider it a job well done. I mean, like, not many of our people make it to my age." Through the visor of his helmet, he popped another piece of candy in his mouth. His piercing near-silently jingled as he made a face.

Rachel Dare slumped over. "You got turned into a baby, Percy." She sounded mournful. "I'm not even going to question it."

"Yeah, well, I don't even remember my age, so now, I'm ageless!" His voice went up into a squeakiness he usually reserved for the Arcobaleno. He had no idea what he was saying, but he'd never admit that. Maybe going through all of this was just a bit traumatic. But, demi-gods and wizards weren't really sane, much less those who dove into the mafia.

"A baby," she repeated.

The adult stared down at her tennis shoes, no longer the worn, paint-splattered Converse, something that seemed like an eternity ago. A time when the world seemed endless and the Gods were only a myth. There was a moment of silence before she quietly said, "They're looking for you, ya know?"

Skull sucked in a short breath and exhaled. "...I know."

"I— " She stopped and leaned her head back, tired eyes staring at the sky. "There's a _prophecy_. I blanked out with the green smoke and everything. So yeah, ta-da—prophecy _._ " She did jazz hands, looking very tired all of a sudden.

"Yeah. That's the only reason that they would seek me out for." He sucked on the candy with a pop, feeling the sweet shrink. He rolled it around with his tongue, getting ready to place another candy in.

"They didn't tell me what it was about," she said, still looking towards the sky. "It's apparently bad. Really bad."

"Bad enough for them to suck up their pride and find me. Or, it just includes me. Probably the latter, honestly." The wrapper crinkled as he opened another candy.

Rachel stood up, red hair crowning her face. There was a certain strength to her eyes, looking more mature than her teen self. More tired as well. 

Demi-god life never suited mortals. 

"See ya Percy."

"Dang, Rachel, did you come to me with the sole intent of just complaining to me?" He mockingly shook his head. "Brutal."

There was a sharp laugh. "You were closest in the area."

"Well, before you go, ya want a candy?" He had the last candy in hand, turning it over.

"Sure."

Tossing the candy at her, she caught it. Shoving the wrapper in her pockets, she popped it in her mouth. Her face twisted. " _Grape_?"

There was a smile behind his helmet. "Wha'da think? It's purple."

"Next time I see you, you better have better taste, seaweed brain." She shook her finger mock-threateningly at him.

"Yeah. Next time." He repeated it softer. "Next time." Her head lowered in acknowledgement of the hopeful statement.

The oracle walked off.

And all Percy was left with was the ever-familiar taste of blood.

* * *

"Kufufu. Where. Were. _You?!_ " Mukuro swung his trident aggressively, aiming for Skull's head.

"Dunno. Somewhere in America, probably." Skull hopped around, dodging each strike.

"And why were you there, if you shall explain?" Mukuro laughed, an angry edge to the sound. The dissonance leaves a slightly empty feeling in Skull's stomach. It makes his head swim, feeling blurred around the edges.

"The Great Skull-sama had to get some candies." His words fall flat in the resentment that Mukuro holds and _Skull knows. (It hits him like a lightningbolt andheknows heknows_ **H** **eknows** _—)_

With a snarl of rage, Mukuro stabbed toward the Cloud Arcobaleno, who timely dodged it. 

His face twisted in a scowl before straightening out into his normal twisty little smile. "You were gone for weeks, Arcobaleno. _Weeks._ " There was a little sliver of hurt hidden behind the venom and barbs.

As his little baby body takes small steps to gain a little distance from the angry Mist, he pauses. "Weeks?" _Not just a few days?_

Mukuro's eyes flashed as he disdainfully nodded. Skull's mind flashes over through the days he spent traveling and the few days he spent in America. It's mostly a blur that he can only barely recall and Skull thinks of himself going through the motions. He can’t really remember. 

He swallows back the bile.

Thinks of the time—ages ago really—last when he talked with Nico and how he said he wasn't doing well, of how Rachel said he's not doing well _either_ , thinks of the gnawing hunger that he's been ignoring. 

Thinks of his clumsiness and his tripping. Thinks of the blood currently filling his mouth, thinks of how he's been swallowing it down. 

When he opens his mouth he's tempted to say, _'Well, you see, I'm also a Sky and I've been denying that part of me. So I'm dying and just not doing well and I'm not going to tell anyone because that would mean questions that I can and can't answer and people I don't want to know and things that I don't want to bring up. So, you know, I just need a guardian—just one!—and I should be fine. But that's not going to happen and I'd die before it happens. And I'm sorry that I can't remember but I'm also happy that I can't remember because everything is getting harder and there are people looking and I feel so anxious and stressed and scared I just want to_ rage _but I can't. Sorry.'_

Instead what comes out from the silence is his squeaky voice reserved for _Skull_. "Ahahaha! Whoops! It seems that the Great Skull-sama forgot to check his dates! Oops!"

And he _knows_ it was the wrong thing to say. He wants to take it back but... 

Ice creeps up his veins.

Mukuro's hand clenched around his trident and he whirls out, jacket flaring out behind him. A mess of fury, of sharp edges, of hidden hurt. 

Skull's chest ached. 

* * *

He studies the catalogue with a single-minded focus. That lamp looks good along with the table he picked out earlier. The carpet will also match and that creates... 

His mind drifts off into an image of what the room should look like once all the furniture is done. After, he just has to install the generator and computer along with everything else and he'll be fine. 

Skull smiles as he marks another chair, the picture making it look stuffed and soft. His eyes dart between two different styles of pillows as he mentally debates which one would be better. 

Marking it down, he smiles. Finally closing his book, he types the furniture into the laptop and blinks at the words that pop up before finally puzzling out the words. Pressing his order in, his eyes squint happily at the fact that being a baby covers up demi-god scent, seeing as it was way easier to not attract monsters as a baby. 

It was so much easier to use electronics.

Closing the laptop with a click, he hops down from the chair. 

He has electricity to install, after all.

(This is not a peace offering. This is just because he was the one who saved them. This is not because he’s lonely. This is— _he’s so lonely. lonely. lonely.)_

* * *

It's rather comical to see a large sofa being dragged by a tiny toddler. But, thanks to the pacifier's influence, the workers didn't take a second look.

The walls had already been reinforced, wires threading through the inside of the place. It wasn't easy tearing it down and building it up again. 

And digging underneath. Skull never wants to do that again. Gods, the _dirt._

Hefting the rest of the furniture into place, he hums as he works. The place is clean, courtesy of his single-mindedness as a person with ADHD. Once he focuses on something, he's in the zone.

Jumping on the new cushions, he bounces one last time then walks out.

There's an anxiety inside of him that sits like a rock in his stomach. Skull doesn't really know why—except _he does know,_ but he'll ignore it as long as he can until he actually has to face it and then he ignore it as well.

Denial, denial, denial.

Yep, that sounds like a plan.

He's skipping as he makes his way over to the empty house that Mukuro and his gang had been occupying. It’s rundown, old and smelly and no amount of Mist flames could fool him.

"Hey!" He crazily waved his hand and watched them jump at his startling loud greeting. _Ah, paranoia, how fun you are._

Mukuro was the first one up. A slick smile on his face, he summoned his trident and asked, "What do you want Arcobaleno?"

"Ahahaha! The Great Skull-sama saw this place and decided it was too pitiful!" he crowed. "C'mon! Your new quarters have been furnished and need more input to finally decorate everything."

The others stay silent behind him as they wait for his judgement.

"That explains _nothing_ Arcobaleno," Mukuro purred. 

"Eh," Skull shrugged. "Why don't you come and see?"

"Very well. Let's go." The Mist nodded at Chrome who was timidly clutching her trident. Ken and Chikusa only started packing up their stuff, too used to Mukuro's actions.

As they made their way over to the renovated buildings, the teens chattered.

All the talk stopped as they went inside. "What. The. Hell." Ken let out a few more heartfelt swears as he stared at the inside.

"See! The Great Skull-sama has only partially decorated the interior." Skull dramatically sighed before perking up. "The Great Skull-sama still needs to finish the rest. Help is needed!" 

From where they've paused in their walk, they continue on, a slight curious caution in their steps.

The old amusement park theater room had been converted into a more modern and new building. New flooring, no longer smelling of moth balls, and the lights illuminated the room. There were comfy couches in the main room, and a table with a little decoration on it. The walls were faintly purple, but Skull felt that this would change soon.

Ken flopped on the couch and Chikusa started poking around. Chrome quietly went into the room further, but made no move to sit down.

Mukuro had disappeared, likely searching the whole building. Satisfied, Skull hopped over to Chrome, and started pulling her in favor of the couch. 

She startled, and stared at him wide-eyed. Skull beamed at her. "Come on! It's made for sitting on."

With a small smile she nodded at him and sat down. Just in time, Mukuro reappeared and started shooting questions at Skull.

Skull only responded and tossed the catalogs over to the Mist once there was a lull in the questioning.

"Here. You can personalize your rooms."

As Mukuro caught the papers, Skull ran off.

* * *

"Hey!" Ken protested as Skull snagged his pancakes, eating them through his helmet.

Skull obnoxiously laughed at the boy. "Hahahaha! You should've eaten your pancakes!"

The blond snarled and reached over the table to try to steal Chikusa's. The other, seeing it in advance, shifted his plate, making the fork only hit air.

He snarled again as Chikusa successfully retaliated, stealing his bacon. "Stop!"

"Kufufufufu. Don't play with your food. Eat." Daintily, Mukuro cut up his pancake in smaller bite-sized pieces. Chrome shyly smiled and drank her orange juice.

The dishes clinked as Chrome stood up and placed them into the sink. She started washing them, causing Skull to cry, "Oh, no! Chrome-chan, you don't have to do that. The Great Skull-sama will do them!"

She quietly replied, "It's fine Skull-san, I don't mind."

Skull hummed. "If you say so." Louder, he said, "And don't be afraid to call the Great Skull-sama!"

She softly smiled to herself. Chikusa stood up, finished with his food. Pushing up his glasses as he set the dishes down, he said, "I'm going to go."

"Oi! Wait!" Ken started scarfing down his food even faster, mowing down the mountain of food on his plate.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he roughly placed the clean plate down and ran after the Rain.

"Well, it seems like everyone is done," Skull squeaked as he made a leap to place his plate down. "You better finish Mukuro."

The Mist only wiped his mouth with his napkin. Haughtily, he said, "Unlike you, I am enjoying my meal." 

He took another bite of his pancakes, quite harshly biting on the fork. Skull laughed and hopped away.

In the silence, there was only the clink of Mukuro’s fork and knife as he slowly ate. With the running water and splashes as Chrome cleaned the dishes, a peaceful silence settled down.

The sunlight gently streamed down onto the room, filled with the chaotic choices of the group. Chrome smiled as she dried her hands. Back to the other, she murmured, "Mukuro-sama, this isn't so bad."

She patiently waited for a response as he took a sip of his chocolate milk. "...perhaps so. Kufufufufu. I'm glad you're happy, dearest Chrome."

* * *

In which we take a peek at what the Vindice are doing in the Wizarding World:

 ** _"What? I thought you said you knew where you were going?_ _"_** One of the suspiciously dressed people hissed at the other. They were in long robes that cover every single bit of skin, but if you looked through, you would find bandages wrapping their entire body.

**"Yeah, well, I'm ya know, maybe just a bit directionally challenged. Just a. Bit."**

**_"Oh my God. Give me the damn map."_ **The smallest of the three, baby-sized, reached out and grabbed the map. _**"Heaven better help me from the idiocy of** certain **people. How have you even been navigating the prison with your sense of direction?"**_

The first nervously laughed. **"Well, I relied on Big Pino."**

Bermuda growled as he scanned the map and stabbed his finger at a location on the paper. **_"Right here. It was there when we entered and now we are farther away from it than before. Jager, you're leading."_**

The golden eyed man silently nodded and started walking as Small Gia scampered after them. Silently, Bermuda mentally lamented about the fact that he hadn't dragged Skull to be their guide. 

But _no._ They had a reputation and they had to uphold it. By the lord, he didn't even know when they had become a fucking prison and enforcers for the Mafia. And _of course,_ he was heading the whole thing. 

God, he wished he had just stayed dead. (A lie. He wants to see the look on Checker face's face when they finally get a hold of the fucker.)

A giant fucking misunderstanding, and then, some reputation happened and he was out-voted and they now had to stay scary and not just clear this whole thing up. _Ugh._

Damnit, he knew he should've stopped Jager from taking in that suspicious stray. Now look where they were. An understaffed undead group of used batteries.

His thoughts stopped when Jager stopped in front of the store. Opening the door and seeing the cramped walls and shelves was like a shock of nostalgia.

It reminded him of home in a bright light, and in the dark light, it reminded him of the giant piles of work that was likely festering on his desk. There was a slight urge just to burn it, even though it was just a thought.

As they walked up to the desk, the person, a slightly scatter-brained looking man, took off his glasses. His eyes seemed to gleam with something otherworldly.

"Huh, Bermuda, it’s been a while. How nice to see you." There was a wispy tone to his voice, and an eerie undertone of something else, too threaded through in his words to make out. 

Bermuda scowled from under his bandages. ** _"Ollivander, you bastard, you said—"_**


	15. Chapter 15

Skull squinted at the paper in front of him, quickly mixing the letters back into place. Mentally sounding out the paragraph, he decisively nodded, happy to have finally figured out what his people wrote.

Quickly uncapping his pen and placing the cap at the end of the pen—a habit he's never been able to break—he started writing, pausing in a few places to try to spell a word.

It was better to get rid of that rat of a bastard who had betrayed him, wasn’t it?

Folding the letter and sealing it, he wrote the address down with his pen, the ballpoint easily swirling over the paper, transforming his chicken-scratch handwriting into something readable.

He put the letter away, and quickly capped the pen. His small fingers were able to trace over the word etched on the cap of the seemingly common pen. There was a bittersweet smile on his face as he placed it in the little slot in his small helmet.

His finger ran over the small divot of the helmet, before letting his hand drop.

_Anaklusmos_

_"Riptide had a long and tragic past—"_

And he was just one of the few in that tragic path, wasn't he?

* * *

There was a stewing feeling in his stomach. Instinct nagged at him to listen. And he did. He was trained to listen to his gut by a Goddess to _listen_ , to _understand_. Swallowing down a feeling of blood, he paced, like a caged wolf.

Mukuro stiffened. His eyes narrowed into a smile. "Mmnn? Arcobaleno? Is there something...wrong?"

Skull forced himself to stop pacing, "Nothing, nothing!" he laughed. "Just— just a bit _uneasy_."

A pause. "Ah."

* * *

**[Tsuna’s P.O.V.]**

A cloud of pink mist covered the street as Tsuna shrieked. Reborn was gonna kill him. Dead, he's so, so, so dead. Disbelief hit him. "Reborn got hit by the Ten-Year Bazooka?"

As the smoke cleared, a small ball of panic welled up, along with a ringing of his intuition. It's both rather quiet, but in the calamity of noise in his head, it almost stands out. 

His hands balled into fists and anxiety sat in his stomach. "N-No way. That means that Reborn's ten-year-older self is here?"

The pink cleared, leaving a chalky taste in his mouth. He straightened up from his previous hunched position, and saw...nobody there. "H-Huh?" He looked around. "Reborn? Where are you Reborn?"

Tsuna felt something was off. "H-He disappeared?"

The ringing in the back of his head got louder, and the sour taste on Tsuna's tongue _curdled_.

* * *

**[Skull’s P.O.V.]**

Skull let out a shuddering breath, fogging up the glass of his helmet.

He quickly hopped over to his desk, bringing out a computer that wasn't there previously. Opening it, and fingers flying over the customized keyboard, his frown grew more pronounced as he typed. He messaged certain people, and deposited a large amount of money in bank accounts.

His fingers twitched as he waited for a reply. Mukuro only watched him, a mild smile on his face. His heterochromia eyes were tracking his movements, eyes focused like lasers.

Skull read over the message, then read it again to try to make sure that he was reading it right. And again. And again. After the sixth time of reading the message, he stilled.

He brought his hand up to tug on his helmet. "Mukuro..."

The mentioned boy forced himself to relax on the couch he was on. "Kufufu. What, Arcobaleno?"

"Reborn was hit by the Ten-Year Bazooka."

Mukuro's brow scrunched up just a bit. "Mn. So?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi and Gokudera Hayato were also sent to the future."

Mukuro's smile grew under the impending sensation of doom. "So?" he echoed.

"...there's no sign of their future selves."

The Mist's smile froze.

* * *

**[Future]**

Skull exhaled. He tugged on his piercing, feeling a slight pinch of pain and the jingle of chains. Familiar. 

Slipping on his helmet, he cleared his throat. There was a dull throbbing in his gut, one that has kept him from eating much, these days. Oodako mentally whimpered, curling around the upper part of Skull's motorcycle suit, changing colors. He patted the octopus, and let out a breath. Deeming himself ready for the facade, he bounded out of the bushes, humming off pitch.

In the field, the ground was relatively flat and from where Skull came from, there was a large forest, at least for them.

"Heya Reborn-senpai, Colonnello-senpai! Oh, Lal Mirch is here! And Fon, Viper and Verde! Never fear, for the Great Skull-sama is here!" he squeaked, an impending sense of death pressing down on him. It had been for the last past month. Oodako tightened around his forearm.

His time was coming soon. He had been coughing out blood for months.

Reborn didn't dignify him with an answer, turning away and fingering the brim of his hat. Colonnello, on the other hand shot a few bullets at him. "Someone's coming after us, kora. Stop messing around!"

Verde was still in his trademark white lab coat, and Viper was agitatedly floating, the serious quirk of his mouth all that's needed to be said. Lal Mirch was standing with a spine of steel, eyes scanning the clearing every few seconds for danger. Fon was the opposite, standing with a deceivingly relaxed posture.

Skull obnoxiously laughed behind his helmet again, mindlessly patting his octopus. "The Great Skull-sama will protect you!"

There was a mocking edge to most of their eyes as the rest of the group stared at the Cloud. Fon only lifted his sleeve as he stared with an enigmatic look in his eyes.

The scientist pushes his glasses up. "We should really start this meeting," he said stiffly.

Lal Mirch opened her mouth, only for it to snap shut as they all jumped out of the clearing. Several shots were fired where they previously stood. The bullets gorged into the ground. They all had their weapons ready, eyes sharpened for the person who fired at them.

The place that they were at was private, and only shared between them. Verde had bought the property, which, although, meant it was likely housing many illegal experiments, it was also one of the most protected places ever.

To get here, it was a major hassle, basically.

There was laughter that echoed out of the trees. "Oh, Arcobaleno~," someone called.

A white-haired teen walked out of the shadow, holding marshmallows in hand. Skull's eyes narrowed behind the visor of his helmet. Purple eyes flashed. _He looks familiar...where have I seen him?_

Colonnello shouted, "Who are you, kora?"

His gun was locked and loaded at the boy. His sharp eyes tracked every movement that the other made, a hard glint in his eyes. Even though he was aiming for a minor, his hands were steady.

The teen threw his head back and laughed. "Hey, you don't recognize me?" he said teasingly, eyes in a smiling crescent. "My, my, I'm quite hurt."

"You're Byakuran," Skull said suddenly. "You're the boss of the Millefiore Famiglia. _You're_ the one who's been stalking us."

Reborn threw an assessing look at him, but it wasn't important now. The clock was ticking down in his mind.

"Oh?" the intruder asked. "How do you know?"

Skull said flatly, "You tried to do business with the Sangue Famiglia." 

He hummed. "Mmm. Yeah, we didn't get our deal across. Wow, you're part of the Sangue Famiglia?" Byakuran shook his head. "That must be why they were so chill," he cackled to himself.

There were sharp looks that Skull had been getting after he said his statement. Lal Mirch looked especially disapproving.

None of that mattered right now. There was an overwhelming pressure coming over him. He took a deep breath, and exhaled. 

This...it would be a miracle if he walked out of this alive, but he was quite good at miracles, wasn't he?

"There's more people here," Skull quietly said.

Byakuran chuckled. "Why yes! There are!"

He made a small gesture with his hand, one that had the Arcobaleno tensing, weapons at the ready. Fon was smiling so hard, Skull thought the storm would be able to kill with the chill in the slight baring of teeth.

From the forest that bordered the grassy clearing, people stepped out, weapons glinting in the light. They had serious faces, ready to die for their cause. Skull had seen those looks before. _(Kids against monsters. Staring Death in the eyes and accepting the outcome.)_

There was maybe a small army around them, the numbers against them uncountable. Odds didn't look good, but they never did. Skull's fist clenched as his eyes darted around, searching for an opening.

He stifled the blood that was threatening to drip out of his mouth. His stomach rolled and his body ached. Everything hurt. _This is it._

Oodako clenched around his arm, trying to remind him of the territory he had. Of what he had to live for. He patted his friend again. 

_Percy Jackson_ stepped forward. 

_Let the show begin._

* * *

**[P.O.V. Change; Future]**

Reborn watched as their stupid lackey stepped forward, Cloud flames flaring. Reborn mentally cursed. "Lackey, get back here," he gritted out. 

His gun was trained on the white-haired teen who had finished eating his last marshmallow. Smiling his creepy crescent smile, Byakuran stood there almost harmlessly, like he wasn't trying to kill them.

Creepy little shit.

The lackey started ambling up to the teen, fiddling with his helmet. As the lackey distractedly seemed to be poking at it, the Cloud finally pulled out a small rock, stopping half-way between them and the enemy.

Then the idiotic lackey did the stupidest thing ever, and when they _come back out of this, alive,_ Reborn would train this dumbassery out of the lackey.

_The lackey pulled off his helmet._

Still in the middle of them, as if he wasn't in mortal danger, and talking to a rock, the Cloud said, "Hey."

Byakuran cocked an eyebrow, but before he responded, the rock responded first.

And rather explosively.

And in English.

With a British accent.

 _"SKULL YOU BLOODY BASTARD!_ " the voice roared from the rock. Some type of communication device then? Rather odd that it's a rock. _"WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU'LL BE NOTING BUT THE DUST UNDER MY SHOE YOU DAMN WANKER! LEAVING FOR YEARS AND NOT A_ SINGLE _NOTE!"_

The Cloud laughed nervously. "Ah, cousin. Well, you know how we said, ya know, years ago that if the thing that we were doing is super dangerous and likely to get ourselves killed we should say our goodbyes? Well, nice knowing you!"

Reborn's mind raced. He could tell that the others were also trying to figure out the small clues that were being dropped like crumbs.

There was silence for a second. Then a choked up voice, " _SKULL—SKULL STOP! STOP! SKULL—_ PERC _—_ ," the rock stopped talking and the lackey tucked it away. He dropped it in his helmet, and pulled his stupid octopus off. Gently, he placed the octopus inside, and it sullenly went.

He then tossed his helmet at Fon, who caught it while smiling way too widely. The Storm was really pissed. Causally, in a voice that Reborn had never heard, the lackey said, "Hey, Fon? Can you get my things to the next angry British person who comes? He'll definitely come. Don't worry, he's mostly bark. Mostly."

Lackey's flames swelled, leaking out into the clearing, making the rest of them step back. The stupid ass creepy stalker's smile got a little smaller. Serves him right.

A wall of Cloud flames sprung up, creating a barrier against the people, covering the other Arcobaleno. They stood inside a shield, chock full of purple. "Skull..." Fon said warningly.

The amount of Cloud flames increased yet again, and it was like a supernova burning up too fast, too brightly. _And was about to implode. To become nothing more than cold space matter._ With every step Skull took towards the enemy they felt his bond _to them_ start to crack, and die.

_They couldn’t feel him._

Viper coughed roughly, and Verde clutched his chest and looked on seriously. There was a power, an authority in the steps that the Cloud took as he slowly made his way over. Something otherworldly, something older and wiser and stronger than what it seemed like. 

_An eruption._ Because that's what it is. If Reborn had thought that he knew how much Flames the lackey had, he'd be wrong, multiple times over. It surged again, the amount reaching unbelievable heights. _This, this, this..._

Even behind the lackey's shield, they all choked on the overwhelmingly strong Cloud Flames. Lal Mirch was on her hands and knees, a more adverse side-effect from the lackey's flames.

Byakuran's smile had vanished, and he was now watching the other like a hawk.

And the Cloud grew. He grew, until he reached his late teen years. Not yet an adult. Not yet matured. Just a kid in a world that was a bit too dark and lonely for him. The wind blew around them. It seemed like clouds were gathering overhead. 

His make-up covered face was solemn. "Take care of Oodako," he called out _quietly_. 

_Resignedly._

_Brokenly._

And that's maybe when Reborn realized he didn't know anything about his so-called lackey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, things really progress. Now, if you're feeling confused, then in the beginning, they're in the present. Skull's been having a bad feeling, etc. Then Reborn/Tsuna/Hayato get hit and they're in the future. Skull tells Mukuro.
> 
> Everything after that is the future, but what happened before Skull died. Or, when Byakuran started to kill off a ton of people. And when he killed the Arcobaleno, Skull died first. I'll detail everything in the next chapter. Hopefully, this all makes sense.

**Author's Note:**

> Lol…this is just horrible…I read all of this…
> 
> God. It’s like TRASH 
> 
> Thank you for reading this…


End file.
